Puppy Love
by E.Elysium
Summary: The 'Cinderella' that will rather sweep him off the street than let him sweep her off her feet. The 'Prince' that observes her more like a specimen in her habitat than the special girl he should catch. What happened to love at first sight again? KaoruXOC
1. First mistake

**Puppy Love**

**Chapter 1

* * *

**

He had been observing her for a while now…

She would always be within the confines of the shop, serving customers, stocking up on supplies, or just grooming the dogs.

Hitachiin Kaoru did not know a single thing about her. He didn't know her name, didn't know her hobbies.

Heck, she didn't even know he existed. He had never talked to her before, but there was something special about her… something that intrigued him,

She was a girl with average looks. Hazel eyes, rosy cheeks paired with normal complexion, a brunette with straight locks and bangs that hung on her face.

This girl did not really stand out compared to those in his school. But he knew she was different. She didn't run for the bathroom every once in a while to check her hair or make-up. Her hair was always tied up out of convenience, hardly any make-up on her too.

There was one thing Kaoru knew about her though. She was a commoner.

How did he know? She worked in a pet shop located on the street where the Host Club visited on several occasions. Tamaki had called it 'research'.

If it weren't for the fact that he was able to see that girl on every trip, Kaoru would have protested.

Today was field trip day again.

And here he was again, standing fifteen feet away, eyes watching the girl at the store. He had offered to catch up with the rest of the Host Club later, much to his twin's reluctance to leave him behind. But he had convinced his brother that this was a start of independence.

She was grooming a puppy this time, her left hand reaching under the puppy's belly so that her fingers held a firm grip on the animal. Her right hand held a brush as she sat with the puppy on her lap.

The puppy nibbled on one of her fingers restlessly. She tsked at its feeble effort to break loose. The animal didn't have a set of fully developed teeth yet.

Realising the futile attempts, the little puppy started wriggling under her vice grip, making the process of brushing even more tedious. Her eyebrows furrowed and her lips formed into a slight pout. Her mouth opened to form a few words, but it was too soft for the Hitachiin to hear.

Perhaps it was the way her attempt to portray an unhappy expression seemed to be unsuccessful due to the hint of a smile pushing out, or she seemed so approachable. There was something that suddenly gave Kaoru the boost he needed.

Inhaling an exaggerated amount of air, he trudged towards the shop, anxiousness laced behind the confident front.

After all, she was a girl right? Just like the rest of them, no matter how sincere and innocent she appeared to be. A little coaxing and sweet talk would be more than enough to make her fall head over heels and swoon over him. This was what he half-expected.

The other half of him was wishing for something… new.

The bell echoed serenely as the door opened. Her head lifted up and she willed a smile to grace her face.

_-Always serve the customer with a smile.-_

He was a boy – probably in his sixteens. Auburn, striking hair spiked, leaving bangs fitting slightly to the side. Topaz orbs, delicate features and a smile that spoke of grace and class, the teen entered the store with his hands stuff in his pocket.

"Can I help you?" her voice was just as beautiful as he had expected. He smiled and tilted his head towards the general direction where the animals were.

"Mind showing me a couple of pups?" he had absolutely no intention of buying any animal. All he wanted was to observe the girl's reaction on his appearance. She didn't really seem to be blushing or anything.

"Sure." He was seemingly polite, she would give him that, not to mention rather handsome too.

She placed the brush aside and stood up swiftly, both arms coming to support the little puppy. With a nod of her head, she gestured for Kaoru to follow her, which he complied silently.

"What kind of dog are you looking for?" she spoke with such casualness; he was slightly surprised by the lack of giggling and blinking of eyes. Nevertheless, he remained aloof, keeping it cool.

"Isn't that kind of rude, not introducing yourself before starting up a conversation?"

She raised an eyebrow at his odd statement, turning halfway to stare at him sceptically. He had that same charming smile plastered across his face.

_-The customer is always right.-_

"Shiro, Miyuki." Indignant laced deep beneath the soft voice. She spoke with such delicate tone; it was obvious that it was forced out. Like she was unwillingly surrendering to someone repulsive.

"Hitachiin, Kaoru."

He smirked, enticing and mischievous. Miyuki was resisting against every fibre in her body, restraining the urge to choke the living hell out of the boy.

He looked as if he was superior to her…

Something about the way he smirked was rubbing her the wrong way. It felt distinctly like he was making attempts to… to charm her… or something…

Miyuki wouldn't deny that little girl in her from swooning when he entered the shop. The only thing that halted her girlish moves was the thing in her head called 'dignity'… and a little bit of 'embarrassment'.

She remembered the girls in her class giggling over the seniors in their school and fluttering their eyelashes coyly. They probably felt no shame, but that embarrassed her immensely. Will this be how _she _looks if she would to flirt?

She didn't feel like cringing if she would to look back at her memory lane one day, only to remember herself as some hormonal teenager.

"What kind of breed are you looking for?" She pulled an effortful smile as she repeated her previously ignored question again.

Crossing his arms over his chest, he lifted a pale hand up to his chin and stared at the ground thoughtfully. After what seemed like eternity, he shrugged and allowed both hands to fall back to his sides.

Her eyes locked with his for the first time, searching the depths of his orbs.

She found casual nonchalance in his eyes.

Kaoru raised an eyebrow in genuine curiosity when she narrowed her eyes at him. Finally, her eyes softened and she broke into a small smile.

"Is that so?"

He couldn't decipher the hidden message behind her words and how she spoke them. Her back was turned towards him as she lifted the lock on one of the empty cages, carefully nudging the puppy into the cage.

"If that's the case," she began, turning to face him again, head tilted slightly to the side as she shot him another smile.

"Please leave."

The words had caught him by surprise; he blinked a few times, slowly allowing the words to sink in. Miyuki strolled past him, lightly brushing her shoulder against him as she passed.

_Screw those rubbish theories about serving customers… This moron was seriously not taking life seriously._

Snapping out of his uncharismatic daze, he turned and frowned at Miyuki in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

She twirled around and leaned on the counter, hands crossed over tightly as her face was sucked free of much emotion.

"You have absolutely no idea what kind of commitment you're making aren't you?" her voice turned unnaturally sharper, teeth pressed together tightly. Kaoru started towards her again, stopping a few steps in front of her.

"Enlighten me."

She shook her head and pushed past him yet again, moving towards the cages. She stopped right in front of one of them and pushed a finger between the metal wiring. The little ball of black fur trotted towards her excitedly, sniffing and licking the finger.

"This isn't a new toy you're buying," her head turned to stare at Kaoru before continuing. "This is a new addition to your family."

The gravity of the words didn't seem to have affected him much. She grimaced in annoyance, removing her finger from the cage as she returned to her post behind the counter.

"I have no idea why am I explaining this to you, like you'll even understand." She scoffed softly, fake amusement shimmered in her eyes as she thought of knocking sense into such shallow fools.

It was like explaining the laws of physics to a rock.

Kaoru stared at the girl emptily, his eyes slowly hardened in determination. Stalking a few steps forward, he pressed his palms on the surface of the counter and leaned forward slightly.

"Teach me, then."

She eyed him for a moment, not even a waver in her decision.

"No."

Short, simple, clear and concise. She made it extremely clear that she did not want to associate with him in anyway.

She despised such people, who regarded animals as their source of entertainment. It was wrong.

The determination in his eyes shone devilishly, he broke into a grin, much to her surprise.

"This is fun."

The word 'GET OUT' nearly slipped out of her tongue, but she stopped short when he flashed a wider grin and reached a hand out to pat her head like a dog.

"I have to go now." He smiled, twisting his wrist around to catch the time on his watch while turning towards the door.

His hand, once settled on the entrance door, stopped in its movement as his head moved to look over his shoulders.

"I'll see you later."

Her eyes widened.

"No, No! Please don't come-"

The door clicked shut.

"Again…" Her spirit deflated, shoulders slumping.

* * *

End.

* * *


	2. It all begins

**Puppy Love**

**Chapter 2

* * *

**

Dressed in the usual pale yellow uniform with white collars and sleeves, the two girls giggled ecstatically. The auburn-haired teen eyed his twin smugly, before lifting himself off the elegant couch and towards their guests. He lifted a finger to one of the girl's chin and smirked devilishly at her, further deepening the scarlet blush on her cheeks.

Kaoru mimicked his brother's actions on the second girl, earning yet another swooned admirer. Moving even closer, his breath lingered on her ear for a moment or so. Her heartbeat accelerated, pulsing so feverishly she could hear it crystal clear.

Finally deciding it was enough, he whispered into her ear, tone light and delicate.

"I'll see you again, fair maiden."

* * *

Hikaru breathed a sigh of relief as he flopped back onto the couch, arms spreading out while he leaned back, positioning his hand behind the couch idly. His younger brother sank down on the support of the couch, back facing his brother as he eyed the motherly representative of the club.

"Can we go now?"

He was being unusually anxious, much to the group's surprise. Kaoru was never much of an impatient person. Kyouya seemed to have heard his question, though his head was down flipping through wordy documents.

"What's the rush Kaoru?"

It was the only female member in the Host club that spoke, her large hazel eyes directed at the younger twin in curiosity. This seemed to have caught the attention of most of the people in the room. He merely shrugged his shoulders sloppily.

"This is getting boring."

Hikaru narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but made no other comments. There was something he was keeping from everyone. If he didn't feel like telling everyone now, he wouldn't force his twin.

For now.

.-.-.-.-.-

The door of the black limo closed gently as the driver hurried into the car, turning on the ignition. The engine purred softly to life and the vehicle moved forward smoothly.

Let the interrogation begin.

He swerved his body to face his brother, eyes sharp and demanding.

"Spill."

Kaoru exhaled, hand raised and brushing through his hair absentmindedly. He knew it, there was no way he could hide something from Hikaru. Then again, he really didn't feel the need to keep it a secret.

After all, it was just something insignificant.

"I found something interesting."

Hikaru narrowed his eyes as he silently urged him to go on. Kaoru leaned back onto the seat and stared at his right palm, tracing along the lines with his left finger.

"It's a commoner, like Haruhi."

The elder of the two raised an eyebrow, blinking in confusion. He took time to digest the information before speaking.

"What's she like?"

This time, Kaoru broke into a cocky smirk and chuckled, further adding to his brother's confusion and interest.

"Imagine Haruhi, only more hot-tempered and…" he trailed off, unable to find a suitable adjective to describe the girl.

…_she narrowed her eyes at him. Finally, her eyes softened and she broke into a small smile._

"_Is that so?"_

_He couldn't decipher the hidden message behind her words and how she spoke them. Her back was turned towards him as she lifted the lock on one of the empty cages, carefully nudging the puppy into the cage._

"_If that's the case," she began, turning to face him again, head tilted slightly to the side as she shot him another smile. _

"_Please leave."_

"and unpredictable." It sounded like an understatement, but he couldn't find a word that fitted her personality, settling for the next best thing instead. He watched as Hikaru spaced out for a minute or so, as if making attempts to imagine the girl. Finally, he shook his head in defeat. "I can't imagine someone like Haruhi…"

Suddenly, as if something had struck him hard, he turned his stare back at Kaoru, eyes accusing and somewhat worried.

"Do you like her?"

True, perhaps it seems unfair how he feels a tint of reluctance to share his brother. Kaoru was younger, yet he had willingly given up Haruhi, knowing that his brother liked the same girl too. He had been there, supporting and rooting for his elder brother, allowing others into their little world and sharing.

He wasn't sure if he could be as gracious and sharing too.

Kaoru replayed the question in his mind thoughtfully, bringing Miyuki's face back into his thought bubble at the same time.

Heartbeat accelerating? Nope.

Stammering on his words? None.

Unexplainable happiness when seeing her face? Nil.

He shook his head slowly, turning back to face his brother.

"I'm interested in her personality, not her."

The moment Hikaru felt himself sighed in relief inwardly; an overwhelming force of guilt settled over him immediately. What was he doing? Was he feeling happy that his brother did not feel love like he did? He pressed his teeth together in irritation as he struggled to change the focus of discussion.

"When can I meet this Haruhi the second?" he kept his voice as neutral as possible, not wanting to sound too unhappy. Kaoru smiled, visibly amused by the question – or rather, the answer.

"The best time would probably be when she no longer finds me to be a shallow trash." His smile widened at the last two words as Hikaru grew more confused. He had wanted to ask more, but the limo had stopped in front of the house, and the door was already opened.

"I'm swinging over to the specimen's habitat," he smirked at his own statement, "I'll be home later."

Hikaru could only give a curt nod, his mind still filled with conflicting thoughts. Kaoru frowned at his brother's lack of attention.

"Hikaru?"

The elder twin snapped out of his trance momentarily, giving his brother the best smile he could muster right now.

"It's nothing, keep me updated on the specimen alright?"

Kaoru smiled as he gestured for the chauffer to move off.

"_I'm interested in her personality, not her."_

He was thoroughly ashamed for having to use his brother's statement to reassure himself. He knew that they would have to let each other explore their own world someday.

He just... didn't feel ready for the both of them to be separated so soon.

They were like pieces of imperfection when apart.

Then again, to be truly perfect, one must be imperfectly perfect first.

* * *

She was stocking up the packages of dog food when he entered.

Her face was bright with smiles when she turned away from the shelf to the customer.

"Wel–" her voice was full of energy at first, before trailing off with a grouchy and dismal tone.

"Come…"

Kaoru smiled, obviously amused by her change in demeanor. Her hair was tied up to a messy ponytail with stray strands that hung loosely by the side of her face. A typical school uniform she wore, a school he assumed were attended by commoners.

She examined his uniform too, only with more expression lighting on her face. He wore a baby blue blazer over a white button up shirt with a black tie and a pair of pants. The crest on his blazer…

Ouran High School.

So he really _was _filthy rich…

So filthy rich that he had decided to stand right in front of her parent's pitiful excuse of a shop, just to irritate her…

"What in the world are you doing here?" she grumbled softly, tone uninviting and tensed. Hey, there was no point in being friendly to shallow trashes. He seemed to be unaffected by her obviously unhappy tone, smiling like they were friends for decades.

"I wanted to." he started towards Miyuki, stopping beside her as he removed the object from her hands.

She didn't let go of the pack of dog food, gripping onto it like it was her lifesaver. Miyuki shot him a disapproving look, pulling the pack nearer back into her arms. He didn't budge either, both of them pulling it back and forth like a tug-a-war game.

"We're not looking for help here." She pulled the pack nearer to herself.

"I know." He tugged it away from her.

"I'm not paying you anything." She held on tighter still and drew it nearer to her again. Kaoru released a huge sigh of frustration and yanked the dog food out of her hands, shoving it onto the shelf.

"I don't need you to pay me."

Her jaws tightened, eyes looking at the teen in front of her, disbelief laced behind those irritated eyes.

"Why are you even here?"

"To work." He stated, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Miyuki bit her lips and frowned at the ground, her fists curled into balls instinctively.

"Don't you have something _else_ to do?" she spoke through gritted teeth, making attempts to keep her temper in check. He was, after all, a rich brat, someone with the power to do horrible, terrible things…

_All she needed to do was to breathe… stay clam…_

He gave a shrug and shook his head. "Nope."

_This…is…not…working…out…._

She was letting him get to her too much. Turning, she lifted another package from the box, only for it to be snagged out of her hands once again. This time, she groaned aloud in frustration, not even bothering to hide her frustration.

"What did I _ever _do to you?" Her miserable expression must have been obvious, judging from the smile that had once again flashed across his face.

"I wanted to."

"You don't barge into a shop and irritate the worker just you want to!" she was almost on the verge of begging for him to leave. Kaoru, on the other hand, seemed to have found inexplicable joy in seeing her misery.

This was something normal to Hikaru probably, but he had never understood why.

Perhaps this was the unexplainable amusement of gloating at other's misery his brother was always talking about…

He slid the object onto the shelf and covered the distance between them. Bringing his head lower, he whispered into her ear. There was denying of the hidden intention behind the action.

To disconnect her thoughts and send her brain into a whirling fit.

"Would it make sense if I told you I was here to see you then?" he whispered.

This time, it was her turn to smile. She tipped her chin diagonally towards the auburn-haired and returned her answer the same way he used to answer her question.

"Nope." Her voice was sure, confident.

Two things that had surprised him. The absence of the usual scarlet blush on her face, she seemed unaffected by the intimate distance between them. And the fact that she had did something no one had done before. She had given him a flat rejection in the most unusual way.

The moment the answer slipped out, she took the liberty to step back to observe his reaction, her smile slowly turning to a small smirk. She had caught him in his own game.

"Now then Hitachiin–san," she tilted her head towards the box of dog food behind her. "Since you are so eager to provide free labor, may I suggest you start with stocking up?"

He glanced at the brunette for a moment or so, before regaining his normal self and giving a little nod. She twirled around and started towards the storeroom at the back of the shop, her expression blank.

When the door finally slammed shut, she panted heavily, keeping her back pressed up on the closed door and sinking to the floor clumsily, hands moving to her suddenly fast-beating heart.

_Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump._

She was struggling on the thin line of composure when he bent down to whisper into her ear. The distance was too close. Blame it on her lack of boys experiences. There was only one thing in her mind that kept her sane.

No matter what, she was not going to allow that shallow trash have the upper-hand. He was not going to have the honors of seeing her all flushed and flustered. Since he wanted to be a free labor, she would work the living hell out of the boy.

If she couldn't make him leave, she would have to _force _him to leave.

* * *

Kaoru kept a steady smile on his face until she was safely out of sight. His face dropped as he turned his back to lean on the shelf.

The second girl to have left an alternate result to his charm.

How she was able to respond to his charm negatively baffled him.

His eye closed involuntarily as a genuine smile graced his face. At least this was going to be an exciting experience.

Let the experimentation officially begin.

* * *

End.

* * *

**Reviews Response :)**

Jayrin Paige or JP, thanks for the first review :) I can understand that kind of totally perfect inside out OC, gets kinda cliché. Ah well! :P

Hakumei. xo, thanks for the review :) Hah, glad you like the first chapter. Don't worry, I'll work on it, for the sake of my life :P

red-jello04, thanks for the review :) Seriously, that suggestion is something I'll keep in mind. I'll remember to look for such guides while I'm reading other fanfictions :P

That's all for now :D


	3. Tomorrow never felt so depressing

**Puppy Love**

**Chapter 3: Tomorrow never felt so depressing

* * *

**

Fingers tapping on the counter impatiently, she kept her free elbow resting on the surface as her head lay on her palms out of laziness. Every once in a while, her eyes would flicker towards the clock on the back of the store and then return her gaze back at the door again.

When she needed him to stay as far as possible from her, he appeared even faster than she could imagine. When she needed him to _stay, _he disappeared instead…

How was it possible for someone to feel so strongly about sacking an employee _before _he even showed up for his first day of work? She had no idea.

The store was opened until night, much to Miyuki's objection. The puppies would often sleep for the majority of the day and were often awake for a short period of time. She disliked the fact that sometimes, people sought entertainment by barging into the shop, disrupting the sleep of the poor animals.

In her opinion, she considered these people as shallow trashes too.

IST - Idiotic shallow trashes.

RSH - Rich shallow trashes.

Of course there were sub-categories for shallow trashes too!

And the fact that Miyuki was still doing moderately alright in her studies – still able to pass the grade _barely –_, she had placed aside some time during school to prepare a list of chores for _him._

Whether it was common tasks like stocking up, or ridiculously chores like keeping the pasting all price tags at the _exact _spot, she had them all listed out. She would force him out of the shop, and if possible, traumatize him out of the district.

It was exaggerating to do the latter, but better safe than sorry. Her plans were going perfectly well as planned.

Or so she thought…

The soft dinging of the bell chimed as the puppies started barking excitedly, many trotted towards the entrance of their cages and tails wagged side to side madly.

"Kaoru, reporting for work!" his voice was full of enthusiasm, despite the fact that dusk was approaching. Miyuki narrowed her eyes at him, straightened up and pointed an accusing finger at the auburn-haired teen.

"Where have you been?!" she demanded, irritated by his seemingly uncaring attitude.

Kaoru frowned bemusedly, hands stuffed deep into his pants. "School?" he didn't know why he felt so…uncertain. He was in school, at the Third Music Room where the rest of the Host Club were entertaining ladies. He had done nothing wrong.

So why was he feeling guilty over the girl's accusations?

Her lips curved downwards as she turned towards the clock - 5.36 in the evening.

There goes the task of asking him to clean the windows and arrange the stocks by their expiry dates…

Miyuki sighed dejectedly as she ambled around the counter towards him slowly, eyes gazing at the patterns on the floor. The tasks she had assigned for him all demanded time. And for that fact, she had to cancel all the plans and forfeit them for tomorrow, since there was not enough time for him to complete the time-consuming tasks. She turned and gestured for Kaoru to follow her when she passed him, walking towards where the puppies stayed at.

"The puppies are normally sleeping for an extremely long period of time. So, unless the situation demands it, don't disturb them." She knew it was unnecessary to brief him too thoroughly, since she wanted to make sure he was gone by this week – either because he had had enough, or that he no longer found the job interesting. But there was a need to prevent him from wreaking havoc in the shop, regardless of the duration of his stay.

Kaoru nodded in acknowledgment, his eyes scanning at the features of each of the puppy. As he passed by them, he found that whenever the brunette passed the cages, the puppies – as if on instincts – would rush and poke their noses between the metal wiring and bark softly, as if making attempts to capture the brunette's attention.

It was somewhat adorable.

"So what am I supposed to do?" he directed her gaze back to the female in front of him, who had stopped at one of the cages. She lifted the latch on the entrance and swung it open, hands moving swiftly to carry the puppy before it had the chance to escape and pummel to the ground.

The puppy was covered with a thick and fluffy layer of white fur, legs short and plump while the bottom of its paws were slightly darkened. Its eyes black in contrast to its fur, the puppy struggled energetically in Miyuki's grip. Obviously, the animal had just woken up from its slumber.

"Your first task," she paused for a moment as she lowered to her feet and released the puppy. "Is to look after the puppies, as easy as that."

He raised an eyebrow as the animal trotted towards him and sniffed at his shoe curiously.

"I have to clear up the inside of his cage and he needs exercise, just make sure that he's safe inside and not nibbling at the stuff in the shop." She wasn't paying attention to the two _animals _loose in her shop, lifting herself to her feet as she started clearing the inner part of the cage.

This was the toughest job that she could think of right now. Perhaps the dog would scare or irritate Kaoru out and never come back?

Yeah right… she was so naïve…

"So it's a male?"

"Hai."

No one spoke. He directed his attention at the puppy at his feet for the next few moments, completely oblivious to his surroundings. The animal seemed to have something against his shoe, scratching it continuously as if he was digging the ground. Finally, it lost interest in the action and trotted towards the rest of the cages, sniffing the other puppies.

Kaoru chuckled at the sight, walking over towards the puppy and lowered himself to sit on the floor. It was weird, to have him taking interest in the store – a commoner's store – and actually feel like it was something he wanted to do.

The puppy, as if noticing that the height difference between them decreased significantly, turned and lunged at the teen, only to jump up a short distance before it landed conveniently on Kaoru's crossed legs. He laughed, hands reaching out to scratch the back of its ear.

To think Hitachiin Kaoru would find joy in such a commoner's pet shop. Hikaru would be surprised...

Miyuki glanced at him from the corner of her eye, silently processing the scene into her head. He appeared to be genuinely content. His reaction and affection shown for the puppy seemed real… Was it really possible for him to change?

"When pigs fly..."

Too engrossed in her own thoughts, she had unconsciously mumbled out loud. The freed puppy's ears perked up sensitively as it turned to the source of the noise. Kaoru lifted an eyebrow as he stared at the brunette.

"What...?"

Snapping out of her daze, Miyuki shook her head rid of the pathetic thought and turned to face the teen. "N…Nothing…" She stammered shakily, cheeks heating up in embarrassment.

Kaoru raised both delicate eyebrows, watching as her expression twisted in disbelief before scrunching her nose in disgust. If he was supposed to feel concern, then there must be something wrong with him.

Because right now, he was watching with morbid fascination.

There was no girl in his school that held expressions like she the ones she had. They had rich, classy parents that taught them the proper and graceful way to act since young. Frowning exaggeratedly and twisting of facial expression was normally not a polite thing to do, and something that he would probably never see the girls in his school do.

He had seen Haruhi with exaggerated expressions before, but it was not a common sight, and it was normally scrunched up with unbelievably. Normally when they introduced her to their summer vacation houses, beaches and things along that line.

This was the first time he had seen a girl and knew what she was feeling just by her expressions. From disbelief to disgust, her next expression made his stomach twist in shock.

Miyuki turned sharply and threw a dirty glare at him. Kaoru could feel himself shrinking back. No one moved for a long time. One was too stunned for words, the other was too angered to speak.

It was she who finally decided to end his misery. She abruptly broke her stare and walked over to him, picking up the white-fur puppy and replacing it back to its rightful cage. From then on, no one spoke as she continued her routine. It was suffocating at first, but slowly, the tension broke away little by little, and Kaoru found himself slightly enjoying the silence and observing her work.

The animals in the store seemed to have brightened her mood; her, eyes softened as the puppies struggled childishly in her arms.

The gentle aura surrounded her when he first laid his eyes on her was back. No, it was never gone. Her face was serene, undisturbed. Her eyes reflected so much content, it was…indescribable. That smile that graced her face, like a child given a candy for a job well done. It was innocent, untainted. An unexplainable beauty behind the average commoner.

Of course, he would probably never live to see the day where she would use those eyes to look at him. Was he more worthless than puppies?

_It was amazing how she could be so gentle when she's smiling…_

…_and irritating when she talks at times…_

Miyuki lifted her head up and locked eyes with the auburn-haired. Frowning in confusion, she titled her head to one side slightly.

"…What…?"

Kaoru broke into a smile and shook his head, hands crossed over his chest.

"You'll look prettier if you just stand there and not talk."

She glared at him agitatedly and flung the puppy's water bottle, aiming at his head. Kaoru's eyes widened as he ducked the flying object, scrambling to his right. The weapon narrowly missed his ear and clashed onto the cans of food on the shelf, toppling the first few rows of objects.

"Nice aim."

She groaned in frustration, gripping onto the metal wirings as she vented her anger on them. There goes the chance of knocking off early…

_How in the world can a normal day turn out so badly…_

* * *

"So, how did I do today boss?" it was amazing how he managed to keep up such an upbeat mood after working in school and at the shop.

"Terrible." she kept her voice nonchalant, eyes focusing on nothing in particular. Kaoru grinned buoyantly. "Practice makes perfect."

_Practice…?_

"I'll get the hang of it…eventually"

_Eventually??_

"Ah well, I'll see you tomorrow…Yuki-chan!" He knew it would serve its purpose, to disturbed her. Miyuki twitched at the name… and the statement.

_To…morrow?_

_How…long…is he planning to stay?!_

_

* * *

_

End.

* * *

Review Responses.

Thanks kiarababy79! Thanks for the compliment :D I got this idea when my sister was in the process opening up a pet shop! heheh

Thanks Jayrin Paige or JP! Hah...The OC is more towards someone full of pride, like those kinds of people who refuse to let others see them as weaklings :D I'll begin the experimentation in the next chapter!

Thanks Hakumei. xo! I'll work on the flaws :D This story is probably more different since it started out with a different scenerio, but I'm really not sure how long it can keep readers on their toes!


	4. Monopoly

**Puppy Love**

**Chapter 4

* * *

**

To truly understand a person, one must learn the rules of the game. And the first rule…

…is to control her world and bribe the ones around her. Like a rat mice in a laboratory.

* * *

Saturday used to be her favourite day of the week.

Saturday was no doubt, still the best day of the week. Here she was, hands crossed and set on the table as her head laid between them, her smirk hidden skilfully behind her arm. Her eyes travelled back and forth with the figure moving in front of her.

"Get on with it." It took all the self-control inside of her to swallow the series of laughter that was forcing themselves to burst out of her throat. Kaoru moved the boxes of supplies from the front of the shop to the storeroom, stopping every once in a while to stare at the brunette's hidden smug expression.

**Discovery #1 on Specimen 003: Upon a closer approach, Specimen 003 appears to have either developed a sadistic mindset over years of living as a commoner… or simply because the specimen was born with a mind full of torture techniques. **

_It wasn't everyday sight to see rich people moving supplies in a shop when they could be sitting at home drinking afternoon tea._

Finally done with the moving of boxes, Kaoru leaned against the wall next to the storeroom door wearily, his breath slightly uneven. It almost made Miyuki feel _guilty and sorry for him._

…

…

…

…

Yeah right!

Steeling herself, she walked around the counter and towards Kaoru, face brightened with a smile. She held a mop when they were an arm's length away from each other and spoke, her voice merry and obviously enjoying herself.

"Time to mop!" her voice was filled with so much enthusiasm; she was like a bubbly child.

**Discovery #2 on Specimen 003: The specimen likes to make something seem easy at first with her upbeat and energetic attitude. And then, when the victim falls for the trap, he has to work like his life depended on it. **

Kaoru was not an idiot to fall for that again.

The Hitachiin moved forward. His left hand reached forward and made a grab for the mop, his free hand moving to circle her waist as he spun and pinned her to the wall, the mop pressing horizontally on her throat.

"You're trying to work me out of here aren't you?" he had released the hold on her a while ago and was using both hands to grip onto the mop. His face was dangerously close to hers, his breath hitting her face as he panted softly.

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

Heartbeat sped like a racing car as she struggled to breathe. In the process of slowing her heartbeat, she had neglected the fact that her blood was racing up to her face. He noticed it almost immediately, smirking a little like a predator who had just found its prey's weakness.

**Important Discovery!**

**Discovery #3 on Specimen 003: The specimen appears to be nervous and blushes upon being in a close distance with someone, preferably a male.**

Pinkish blush welled and spread across her face. She was intimidated by the close proximity.

This discovery merely made him move even closer, eyes watching her face attentively. He blew softly into her ear, causing her to shiver involuntarily.

"Well?" he wasn't expecting her to answer after this little gesture, he knew, he expected it. They would stammer and stutter every single time.

She shut her eyes the moment he blew a breath at her face; her heart even skipped a beat. This was even closer than the last time, and no guy had ever been this close before. She could feel him laughing and gloating at her now. The tables were starting to turn.

But Shiro Miyuki was a girl full of pride, perhaps too much even. She wasn't going to stand here and be humiliated by this… creature and be emotionally scarred for life by the embarrassing incident. Her hands curled into determined fists as she fought back the blush.

It didn't work, but she didn't care. Eyes still closed, her lips curled up at the corners and formed a smirk. Miyuki couldn't see, but he had widened his eyes in surprise, his grip loosened slightly. Finding the effect positive boosted her confidence as she forced her eyes open, smirk still in place.

"Whatever gave you that absolutely correct answer?"

**Discovery #4 on Specimen 003: The specimen is unpredictable, possibly bipolar… or has a split personality.**

Taking the advantage of his slackened grip, Miyuki lifted her hands and pushed the Hitachiin off her, brushing pass him lightly as she deliberately bumped her shoulders against his.

_Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump._

She stopped when there was a safe distance away from him, her breathing even again when she was a few feet away. She could even feel her confidence that melted away before hardened. She turned fully to face Kaoru and smiled, though it was strained and obviously ironic.

"Get back to work."

The bell on the door chimed softly, echoed by the excited puppies that wagged their tails and barked. Miyuki turned back towards the door, smile still in place, though it didn't last long. Her face fell and she blinked several times at the middle-aged woman standing at the door, hands full with luggage.

"O…kaa-san?"

Her previously dampened mood had just gotten worse… Her mother was back… and she was staring, eyes wide through her, at the abomination behind her. Miyuki turned and glanced over her shoulders at Kaoru, who stared back at the woman with a head tilted to the side in confusion.

_Oh no…_

Realisation finally sank in, her eyes widened in horror as she swerved her head back to her mother, hands waving in front of her frantically while rushing towards the door. It was too late. She could see her mother practically _glowing _with interest over the stranger.

"Hello! And who is this Yuki?" her mother's voice was preppy and zealous. She ignored her daughter, eyes staring at the auburn-haired youth as she dropped her luggage and approached him slowly. Kaoru smiled awkwardly, both hands held onto the mop and pressed it to the ground; his eyes flickered over to Miyuki's questioningly.

"Kaoru."

Her eyes glimmered as she reached out a hand; Kaoru peeled one of his hands off the stick of the mop tentatively and shook hers. "Mika." She beamed, sneaking a peek at her daughter slyly, who returned her look with a look of pure disgust.

_Her mother had turned on her and made an alliance with the creature…_

Turning her head back to the Hitachiin, Mika spared a curious look at him. "What are you doing here with the mop?" Kaoru grinned as he scratched the back of his head.

"I here to help out _Yuki-chan_." He smiled as his eye travelled further to Miyuki, who was visibly agitated and eyes that were ready to kill. Mika didn't seemed to have notice the hidden purpose of the way he was using Miyuki's nickname,

Or she didn't really care.

"Well, how about you help this old lady in front of you carry my bags to my house, it's not too far, but I'm afraid I can't manage."

Well…She did seemed to be a nice person.

"Sure."

"NO!" She rushed up and made a grab for her mother's arm, pulling her backwards as she whispered harshly into her ears.

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be away!" Mika cracked a smile and removed her arms from her daughter's grasp slowly.

"I'll tell you later, I have a guest to attend to."

And before she even had time to protest, her mother had already ushered the Hitachiin to the door, luggage on hand and both of them waving her goodbye…

* * *

She was a woman with a straightforward and blunt personality. When she laughed, she didn't feel the need to hide it from the world. That was what Kaoru had noticed about Mika.

"Yuki's has an extremely bias approach to life. Once she sees things that way, her opinion would be almost impossible to change."

Kaoru grinned jocosely, switching the load of the luggage over to his left arm as he matched her slowed pace. "I'll make her change her opinions on things."

Mika turned and smiled, patting him on his shoulders gently. It was an affectionate gesture, something that he had never really felt from his own biological mother before. She was always too busy. The woman before her made him feel at ease without even trying, while his own mother had to try so hard to strike up a conversation that was not even similar to the one he was having.

"Just remember one thing Kaoru," her voice was still light, but held a mock seriousness in it as she stared at him directly in his eyes.

"Don't try anything funny, I think she hates you."

Breaking into a clear and delighted laughter, Kaoru smiled and nodded.

"I'll keep it in mind Mika-san."

* * *

He was always surprised in many different ways when he arrived at the shop. He had been welcomed by a natural and ungrudging smile the first time he came. The second time he came, he was welcomed by a look of utter abhorrence. The third time he came, he was welcomed by an accusing glare.

And this time, when he stepped into the shop, the stick of the mop stuck threateningly in front of his face welcomed him.

"What did you two talk about?" her voice was dangerously low, eyes narrowed at him with such… such detest and suspicion…

He couldn't resist the urge to tease her.

He lifted a finger, pushed the stick away from his face, and walked towards her nonchalantly, finger tracing the mop. He stopped when there was a considerably comfortable distance for her between them before he spoke again.

"You're mother was talking about how you needed to go out more and find someone…" he paused for dramatic effect, eyeing the brunette and her reactions. The silence only made her more frustrated as she glared at him.

"Get on with it!"

Kaoru chuckled and took a step closer towards her, only to have Miyuki take another step back. He glanced at him playfully, taking another step forward as she repeated the gesture.

"She was afraid that you might not…_develop well in terms of mentality."_

She raised an eyebrow, confusion evident on her face. "What do you mean by not develop…" Her eyes dimmer, jaws agile as she stared at the ground with disbelief. Her narrowed again as she threw a sharp look at him.

"What else?"

He pretended to think, placing a hand on his chin as he tapped his foot softly. Finally, deciding that that was enough, he snapped his fingers like something had came to his mind.

"She told me to help you."

"Help to?" she was burning with an invisible force of feeling betrayed.

"Develop." He shrugged casually, arms falling into the pockets on his pants. Miyuki scoffed, turning her back on him as she strolled back towards the counter.

"Give it up, you'll never be able to win me over with that attitude of yours."

He ambulated after her, turning so that the counter supported his back and threw his head backwards to look at her. "I've stolen the hearts of countless number of females. What makes you think you can run?"

"My heart is locked away and the key is well hidden. Good luck stealing it." Her voice sounded confident, a complete opposite of the inner tremor she was hiding. He must have known, smiling as he turned and leaned forward on the counter.

"Just don't beg me to return it when I find it."

* * *

End.

* * *

Review Responses

Thanks wolfspeaker01! I got kinda bored with everyone going to Ouran High too :) Thus, the story was born!! I'm working on more things to spice up the plot and make it more interesting :D

Thanks .ame.! Don't you just love puppies! Haha:D Thanks for the compliment!

Thanks lulumoo! I'm striving for making this story short, sweet and adorable! :D

Thanks mystakenidentity! Yep! I'm trying hard to work on Hikaru's reacctions too! Hopefully it'll turn out well :D

Thanks Jayrin Paige! I'm grinning like a mad person when I wrote the puppy scene in the last chappie :D Unfortunately, my time was limited and that was all I could do within my ability.. I'll work on it!

Thanks Kouyan! Here you are! The next update!! It's kinda...weird but I hope its decent to you! Enjoy :D


	5. House call

**Puppy Love**

**Chapter 5 House Call

* * *

**

One week.

She didn't think he would even make it through three days. Even _Kaoru _himself felt like it was miraculous for him to pull through seven days unharmed after those ridiculous chores.

Mercy must be smiling down at him lately.

And for his one-week anniversary on the discovery of Specimen 003, he was greeted with the first situation.

Specimen 003 was sick.

* * *

Series of raspy coughs filled the room and broke the silence.

A pillow propped up on the headboard as she leant on it, a white cover blanketed over her body with her knees brought up under it. A book was balanced on her diagonally placed lap as her right hand covered her mouth with a piece of tissue.

Of all the times to fall sick, it had to be on the week before her exams…

The numbers and equations in the mathematical book were never on friendly terms with her, like cats and dogs. The fact that her half-lidded eyes were drooping lower and lower didn't help to alleviate the pain and agony of studying…

Question 1) Suki has _x _number of apples in her fruit stall. The number of oranges she has is twice as much as the number of apples she has. She found that there were a total of 4 rotten oranges in total and threw them away before packing the oranges into boxes of 10. Find the number of boxes she packed.

…

…

…

…

Kami-sama! If Suki wanted to find out how many boxes of oranges she packed, she could have just _counted!_ What have oranges got to do with her?

Groaning in frustration, she jerked her lap sideways and sent the book flying to the floor with a soft 'thud' before throwing the covers over her head.

A familiar chuckle echoed into her room.

The voice seemed to have aggravated her already dampened mood. Her eyes widened in surprise as she flicked the cover aside, her face contorted from surprise to irritation.

"Get out."

Well, wasn't that a welcoming tone and greeting?

Leaning against the room's doorframe, Kaoru kept a steady smile on his face as he eyed the brunette for a moment before his eyes travelled around the room.

Well, this certainly was a remarkable sight. Her room was almost as small as his bathroom…

**Discovery #5 on Specimen 003: Specimen has a weird and possibly twisted obsession for white. **

White walls…

White bed sheets…

White covers…

White study table…

White coloured school bag…

White rug…

White closet…

"Your life must be extremely dull."

As soon as those words escaped his mouth, he wished that he never even said it. A pair of dangerous hazel orbs narrowed, screaming murder at him. Kaoru bit his lips instinctively, breaking into an awkward grin. "No offence…"

"How did you… no wait…" Despite her rather blurry and unclear mind, she was still able to piece two and two together. "Don't answer that… I already know your partner in crime…" The dull throbbing her head was becoming harder to ignore, she was in no condition to argue anymore.

A few soft footsteps, a little shuffling of feet, before she turned towards the voice that spoke again.

"Are you feeling any better?"

He was, for once in a long while, lost for words and actions. The people around him were always well taken care of, never was there a need to call in the doctor. How long had it been since he visited a sickly person?

Miyuki blinked once, twice, then three times. His voice was low, pleasant with no hint of mockery or teasing. His expression was comforting, eyes softened yet a little uncertain. She sniffed, before sending him a nod.

Kaoru smiled. His eyes unknowingly travelled down to the object next to his feet. Gently, as if one unthinking movement would destroy the tranquility of the atmosphere, he bent down while his fingers curled around the side of the book.

"No! Don't-"

His eyes scanned the book curiously as his free hand reached over to grab the brunette's two hands, who was struggling to retrieve her book. Her eyes closed tightly in embarrassment as his eyes twinkled in amusement before finally breaking into laughter. It rang clear in the previously quiet room.

"It's not that funny…" She muttered, indignant as her face flushed, adding colours to her sickly pale complexion. He coughed, a meek attempt to control his laughter. It did worked when he glanced up at her. But one look at her scribble-filled book sent another round of laughter bursting through his throat again.

"I'm sorry." He managed between fits of laughter, though it came out rather disbelievingly. _Like a murderer apologizing while still hacking the victim into pieces…_

Another burst of unwanted breath rose within her and erupted into a choking cough as she swerved her head to the side, hands still locked in the teen's grip. Realising this, Kaoru released his hold and lowered himself to his knees, that concerned expression returned to his face again.

She closed her eyes again, calming her beating heart from the cough as she toppled back to lie on the bed again, the cover sprawled messily and tangled around her legs. Slowly, she relaxed herself as Kaoru moved to sit next to her bed, eyes trailing off to look around the room again.

"Hey…" his whispery voice surfaced above the silence, uncertain whether it was the right to interrupt her rest. Miyuki's previously closed eyes twitched open slowly, her head moving to look at the back of his head as he stared forward.

"Why are there only pictures of you and Mika-san?" Kaoru turned to look over his shoulders.

She glanced at his side profile wordlessly as her eyes lowered. Her body was relaxed, yet, something inside her tensed and trembled. This was a delicate subject, something that Kaoru knew about only by now, wishing he had never even touched about it.

"You don't have to talk ab-"

"My dad lives overseas…" her voice was soft, painfully soft as she gazed into nothingness. Kaoru blinked, befuddled and worried. He said nothing as she took her time to recollect those past memories. Those days with a complete family were, in retrospect, the happiest days of her life.

"He wanted more," her voice grew lower and lower, dejected and disappointment. "He wanted to live a better life."

Her eyes never left the object it was staring at – nothing. Her eyes were clouded with memories, with questions.

"You should be happy."

She jerked her head to look at him, frowning in utter confusion as he merely smiled at her. He turned to look in front of him again, fingers twiddling together in arid boredom. "My parents are so busy I hardly ever see them everyday."

"At least you get to see them." She responded, eyes never breaking gaze as she stared at his auburn hair. A series of cough erupted from her throat and she covered her mouth again, eyes shut wearily. Kaoru glanced back again while she flapped her free hand at him in assurance.

"What good is it if you see them everyday yet they can't even tell you and your twin brother apart?" he smiled at the bitter statement, surprised at how he was able to say it so casually.

Her eyes widened in surprise as she turned to look at him again, expression a mixture of shock and disbelieve. "You have a twin?"

The mention of his brother seemed to have brought some happiness back into him. Kaoru grinned and nodded radiantly. "We are inseparable." He announced, his heart seemed to have swelled with pride at the fact.

She laughed at him, sniffing a little as she smiled at him. "You seem to be pretty detached with him since you're here alone everyday."

"You want me to bring him here next time?"

"That depends, does he act like you?"

He kept silent for a moment, mind churning on with what to say. There really was no point in denying the fact that Hikaru was the more evil among them.

"He's a little more… creative." Well, that was the best adjective he could use without tarnishing Hikaru's reputation. She seemed to have noted that the word itself meant more than it was supposed to be, shaking her head as she replied his previous question with a firm 'No'.

He chuckled at her answer, turning back to face the wall as his expression turned slightly more solemn and serious.

"At the very least, you have a caring mother." Her expression turned slightly more composed, thinking about his point. In the end, she returned his statement with a smile.

"You know, maybe it'll be nice to see how alike you and your brother are someday." She commented. Kaoru's previously energetic mood returned, laughing and nodding his head slightly.

His smile slowly molded into a slightly more sinister looking one. "I have a feeling he'll like it."

Miyuki stared at him sceptically, eyes narrowed in suspicion. She would have continued to pry further, but the medicine seemed to have taken effect as she yawned exhaustedly, rubbing her bleary eyes.

"Go to sleep, Yuki." He teased her half-heartedly while she sent a faltered glare at him. Grinning mirthfully, he pulled the tangled cover up to her shoulders and patted her head like a little kid.

"You can leave now you know."

"I know."

He sat facing the bed, watching as she fought uselessly and drifted between the line of consciousness and unconsciousness. Finally, her eyes slowly, tentatively, blinked for a few more times before closing.

That usual air of defence she built around him felt like it was breaking down along with her weakened body and condition.

Brushing away a stray strand hanging on her face, he whispered a soft goodbye before standing up from his previous position. His head turned back and stole one last glance at the sleeping girl before twisting the doorknob open gently.

"_Get well soon Yuki…"

* * *

_

End.

* * *

Author's Notes

Okay, I'm prepared to be flung by tables and chairs now XD

So, if you have went to see my account homepage, you would probably have an idea of why the updates were delayed :) I'm sorry if this came out a little short :(

Ah well, in case you are wondering, anyone have any idea why Miyuki is Specimen 003? it's not a random number you know? hahhahaha!!

I'm not really sure if she should have a nickname of Yuki or not..hm... what do you guys think?

Anyways, Thanks for reading this very... shotgun chapter - again...

* * *

Review Responses

Thanks izzy4shizzy! Yeah, it promotes the "work hard if you want something" motto :D I'm working on a slow transition but I don't really have that much chapters!

Thanks mystakenidentity! Hahah, I noticed he seems to lean towards Hikaru's character too! Hope that this chapter can help to keep Kaoru back on track and in character again! :D

Thanks Kouyan! He will get it no doubt! But Miyuki's probably not going to let him find it that easily too :D Hopefully he doesn't faint from exhaustion before that!

Thanks ! :D You're too nice! I'm hoping to keep everyone in character, and keep Miyuki consistent too! Pray hard that my brain and writing doesn't mess up any of the remaining chapters! I was thinking of extending the series too, but I'm not sure whether it'll work out

Thanks 13Lulu's! I wanted to have him have a complete control over every aspect of her life! But I forgot about touching that part as I went on typing :D

Thanks sunshine! I'm really happy you like it! Hope that this update will not disappoint you :D


	6. Which one is Hikaru Game?

* * *

**Puppy Love**

**Chapter 6 ~ which one is Hikaru game?

* * *

**

They say that miracles do happen in this world…

But nobody said that miracles would be something good, something awaited…

* * *

It was supposed to be a normal day in school. She would be awakened by the sound of her alarm ringing its pitiful existence off. Her mother would prepare something that looks inedible, but still edible nonetheless. She would suffer through a day in school, banging her head on the table over tests half the time. Finally, when the bell rings, signalling the end of a torturous day, she would rush home to the pet shop.

It _was_ supposed to be a normal day.

If a person would define a _normal day _as finding, a ridiculously long limousine parked in front of the entrance of their public school, with a familiar auburn hair teen poking his head out of an open window, bored expression in place.

Girls had been loosely dispersed around, blushing, whispering, giggling and no doubt ogling at the boy.

Miyuki froze in place, right at where she was standing while her eyes shot wide open and her hand flew up to cover her half-opened mouth. Kaoru sat in the exquisite piece of mechanic – something that was probably even more expensive than what she would ever earn her entire life – with palm supporting his head as he gazed idly around before his eyes stopped on her. A smile slowly crept out as he mouthed something. In an instant, the chauffeur had stepped out of the limousine and was rushing to hold open the door for the youth.

The moment he stepped out of the limousine, a round of gasp sounded through the air as the blushes in most of the girls deepened. Miyuki twitched in disbelief.

She didn't know whether to laugh that it seems like a dream, or to cry _because_ this was not a dream.

What in the name of Kami-sama was this… this _creature_ doing here? Was being in the pet shop not enough of torture for her miserable life?

He approached her, deliberately slow and graceful, savouring the moment. The amusement in his eyes grew as her obvious irritation increased, her hand dropped to her side and eyes narrowed.

"What… are you doing HERE?" she hissed, not even bothering to hide her disdain when he was near her. Kaoru offered full grin. Reaching out, he encircled one of her wrist and steered her towards the limousine, with her stumbling and yelping every now and then at his impatient pace.

"I'm here to escort you!"

"You what?! Why?"

"Didn't you say that you wanted to meet my brother?"

Miyuki shot him a suspicious glance, eyes reflected distrust. "And…?"

The chauffeur kept the door open while Kaoru – conveniently ignoring the curious looks of the student body – ushered her into the vehicle before him. Once inside, he turned his head fully to face the girl and grinned yet again.

"Let's go meet Hikaru, Yuki-chan!"

Yes, this was definitely going to turn out badly.

* * *

"_What?!"_

_The younger Hitachiin nodded, grinning exultantly as he lay at the end of the bed, eyes rolling to the side to watch his brother. Hikaru had sat up and stared at him, confusion evident on his face. Hands still folded behind his head, he kept his smile on his face, nodding._

"_She did mention that she wanted to meet you."_

"_Ah…" he replied absentmindedly, his face now completely drained of any other emotion. That feeling was back…_

_That sickening, uncomfortable feeling of losing grip._

_Too caught up in his mind to even noticed that Kaoru had noticed his change and sat up to face his brother. The younger Hitachiin reached up to shake his brother's shoulder lightly._

"_Hi…karu?" he murmured softly, watching the elder Hitachiin slowly withdraw from his own thoughts and stared back at him questioningly._

_Even without him speaking, Kaoru already knew what he was thinking. Realization came, as his eyes widened, the hold on his brother's arm more secured. "It's not what you think, don't bother yourself with such-"_

"_No." _

_The younger Hitachiin stopped halfway and glanced up at his brother worriedly. Hikaru swallowed the jumpy feeling in his guts and forced a smirk. "I'm dying to meet her too."_

_Kaoru watched him slowly, lips curving down to a frown as he shook his head. "Forget abou-"_

"_Do you still remember," Hikaru interrupted, his voice firmer, smirk turning wider and he stared directly into his brother's eyes, as if to assure him._

"_Do you still remember our favourite game?"

* * *

_

The limousine came to a stop at the front of the shop. Her mind had barely registered the stop as she continued to scan the interior of the elegant vehicle, too distracted to notice that the chauffeur had reached for the handle on the outside and opened the door. She was leaning on the door then unfortunately, and would probably have tumbled ungracefully to the ground if it weren't for the hand that had reached out to grab on to hers.

"Nice move, clueless-chan."

She glared at him; cheeks flushed red in embarrassment as she mumbled, "Shut up…" His grin widened while she clumsily step out of the car.

"Let's go then, Yuki!" his voice filled with so much enthusiasm, hand still laced with hers as he tugged her along, much to her dismay. Strangely, her stomach felt like it was twisted and turned uncomfortably, her heart felt like it was beating faster and harder than usual.

She concluded that it was probably due to the strangely menacing aura that had surrounded the shop, promising nothing but torture and misery.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Kaoru stopped in front of a door, a hidden smile graced his features. Using his free hand, he placed it on the knob, turning back to offer a smile filled with anticipation.

"I like you to meet…" his voice stopped here, gently turning the knob and pushing the door inwards. Waiting for the reaction of surprise from her, he continued her sentence soon after.

"…the Ouran High School Host Club."

Her gaze travelled through the group of people in the room, suddenly feeling inferior by the attention she was given by them.

They were all so… so extraordinary.

Her observation landed and stopped on one of them, eyes widening in shock as she stared openly at him.

Auburn hair.

Topaz orbs.

That familiar looking, slender face.

Before she could even get words out of her mouth, a voice had already advanced and broke the awkward silence.

"IT'S THE FAIR MAIDEN THAT HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED AND TORTURED BY THOSE DESPICABLE DEVIL TWINS!!"

The voice was so loud, so unexpected she actually staggered backwards a few step instinctively and ducked behind Kaoru, who smirked at her.

Everything that happened next was a whirl of confusion. She barely registered a tug at her wrist and being engulfed into a bear hug that was – needless to say – breathtaking.

Breathtaking, in a literal sense.

She struggled to breathe, attempted to move as her heart palpitated at an amazing rate. There were voices, some whiny and some argumentative. Her arms flailed like a bird with its wings tied and something ticklish rubbed against the top of her head, strands of hair fell to her forehead as the 'thing' moved. Her breath was becoming ragged, both from fear and suffocation.

"Oi! Tono, let go her! She's hyperventilating!"

The whining and arguments seemed to have ceased as she felt herself being released and forced to stagger a few steps back with something weighing down on her shoulders, steadying her. Taking several moments to regain her composure again, she found that right in front of her were two pair of topaz eyes staring back at her, two identical smirks on their faces.

"You're only here for five minutes and you're already swept off your feet?" the one on her right pretended to frown in disappointment. He had one hand draped conveniently on one of her shoulders. The other twin had his placed in a similar fashion as he spoke.

"And to think I had so much expectation that you'll do something… destructive."

Her mouth hung open loosely, but nothing came out.

"Quit traumatizing her." It was a more feminine voice that spoke this time. The Hitachiin twins turned and glanced over their shoulders at a brunette.

The student stepped forward and offered a hand towards Miyuki as the twins slid their arms off her and took a few steps back glumly. "I'm Fujioka Haruhi." He smiled.

Or at least, his uniform suggested that the student was a _he. _His appearance, however, seemed to have left second thoughts in Miyuki's mind. Those large and pretty eyes.

"Ah… I… Er…" she stammered, eyes blinked several times as she met the gaze of the boy in front of her.

At least, the uniform suggested the gender. Haruhi laughed and turned to scan the crowd behind them. "I know it looks confusing and chaotic, but you'll get used to it… eventually."

"H… Hai…"

Just then, a mop of blonde hair wedge through between the two and Miyuki caught sight of a pair of dull orange orbs, innocent and childish. Her own eyes softened even further as the child spoke, his voice crisp and utterly adorable.

"I'm Honey!"

If there was, anyone that made her felt at ease, it was probably this little kid's optimism vibe. She crouched down to the boy's level and offered an unsteady smile. Her eyes swept over the crowd and landed on the other taller blonde rubbing his head in agony from the concussion he suffered when thrown to the side moments ago.

"Is that your brother?"

Honey blinked blankly at the girl in front of him before turning back to eye Tamaki. Miyuki's eyes kept a sharp focus as she watched Tamaki like a hawk, deathly afraid that the crazy person might jump at her again.

**Discovery #6 on Specimen 003: When placed to come in contact, Specimen 001 and Specimen 003 would probably have a negative result. Specimen 001, as usual, shows irritatingly clingy behaviour on things, which, in this case, happens to be Specimen 003. However, Specimen 003 appears to be disturbingly terrified of Specimen 001.**

Behind her, she could hear the unmistakable laughter of voices. Two hands descended on her shoulders and she jerked her head back.

"Let's start from the beginning alright?"

She raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

This was bad…

This was really bad…

"LET GO OF HER YOU IMBECILES!"

Oh yes, the screaming and the obvious insanity-filled atmosphere had just backed that theory well…

* * *

"Oh Hikaru…"

"Oh Kaoru…"

"_Oh Kami-sama… I think I'm going to go sick again…"_ she retorted to herself inwardly, dropping her gaze to the counter top so that no one saw her twisted face. Even without looking, she could just picture the blushes on the girls' faces and the attraction in their eyes by their overjoyed soft squeals.

They were like people magnets, or more specifically, _girl magnets._ The shop had overflowed with giggling and blushing girls who, no doubt, have no intention of buying anything.

Perhaps they were thinking about buying the flirting morons out. Heck, if she could, she would have gladly packaged the six males out.

This would probably explain why Shiro Miyuki was sitting in her still uninvaded 'territory', – the counter - fuming her guts out as she glared at the unsuspecting victims that were ignoring her.

If looks could kill, they would have withered there and then.

The twins turned and glanced at the girl, where Hikaru felt the sudden urge to rub it in on the fact that Miyuki was visibly uncomfortable with everything here.

"Still can't figure it out?"

She turned and gazed at the pair of irritatingly smug orbs dully, her eyes flashed dangerously at him.

"Don't strain yourself dear maiden." The voice came from the other twin now, as both siblings winked simultaneously at her, just to further fuel up her anger and indignant. She clenched her fists and held them stiffly at her sides, narrowing her eyes flaringly before she turned her head to face the surface of the counter stiffly. Kaoru broke into a smile and leaned towards his brother.

"That look of disgust." He laughed softly. Hikaru turned to his brother and offered a half-hearted smirk.

That ugly and selfish feeling was still there flipping deep inside him as he struggled to force them down. How his brother smiled at her actions and the amusement that was unshrouded in his eyes. So many times, he had bit back that rash impulse to express his unjustified jealousy. The only consolation and factor that calmed his sanity was the reassurance his brother had offered.

"_I'm interested in her personality, not her."_

Yet, he really couldn't deny the fact that the girl's reactions and avoidance from Tamaki was… refreshing and comical. The way her face twisted, her tongue sliding out and her mouth agape like she had tasted something horrid.

Provoking her was almost as ludicrous as agitating Tamaki… Dying his hair back to its original colour was definitely worth it for the fun.

This was going to be a long day.

A long, gloat-filled day for the Hitachiin twins…

And a long, torturous day for Shiro Miyuki.

Not only had she been duped into a pirate's ship to be teased twice as much by the abomination and his clone, abomination the second.

She had made a fatal, terrible, stupid and idiotic choice of swallowing and falling for the_ demon duo's_ game.

The taunts still rang in her head as she gritted her teeth, the only thing that kept her from banging her head on the glass window was the fear of letting the shop go unsupervised with no _responsible and sensible _person to watch over. Her mother had oh-so-conveniently remembered that she had forgotten to run an errand, no doubt under the influence of the Hitachiin twins.

Which one is the Hikaru game.

"You really shouldn't have accepted the challenge." Turning faintly, she caught a glimpse of one of the Host Club members.

"Which is why I am sitting here, wallowing in my misery right now." Miyuki replied glumly, slumping even further into her seat while glaring at the devil spawns. Muttering incoherent words under her breath, she struggled to transfer her negative energy to something more productive. Like studying the boy next to her.

Yeah right… productive.

He was not even up to the average height of boys, eyes were round and large, lips delicate and a flawless skin. The boy had no hint of a muscular frame, rather petite actually… Come to think of it, Miyuki seemed to share the same attributes in terms of their sizes.

How peculiar…

Sensing the gaze, Haruhi turned and offered a mildly curious look. The long haired brunette, finally realising that her observation had turned into something similar to gawking, flushed and mumbled a soft apology.

"Would you like an advice Miyuki-san?"

It took a moment for her to register that someone was talking to her. Blinking, she turned to face the feminine Host Club member again.

"Advice?"

Haruhi smiled and nodded, turning to glance at the Hitachiin twins.

"Look deep into them, there're a lot more differences between Hikaru and Kaoru than you think."

* * *

_If you can't beat them, join them._

_If you can't join them, threaten them._

_If you can't threaten them, taunt them.

* * *

_

By the time it was time to knock off, she had already long surrendered and settled with eyeing the clock.

Five. Her eyes hardened in concentration.

Four. Her chin slightly lifted so that it was no longer on the table.

Three. Her back straightened a little, like a predator waiting to pounce.

Two. Her palms moved and situated themselves on the edge of the counter.

One. Her legs moved to plant themselves more firmly on the ground.

Tick.

"EIGHT O'CLOCK!" She shrieked excitedly, shooting up from her seat as her mouth curved upwards gleefully. Her eyes visibly brightened and her entire composure screamed party.

The whole atmosphere was immediately silenced, all eyes turned to watch the brunette in alarm. No one understood the reason behind the sudden burst of energy in the girl.

Until one of them finally realised the reason.

Eight o'clock.

Closing time.

.

.

.

The undelivered laugh in the younger Hitachiin had been swallowed and replaced with a smile.

Shooing off the remainder of the customers that were still lounging around, reluctant to leave, Hikaru and Kaoru's now smug expression were more than visible.

One moment she was looking at them, standing at the door, waving the girls goodbye. The next moment, the abomination duo had magically reappeared at either sides of her.

"Can't figure it out can't you?" The one on her right gloated.

"Enough with the teasing guys."

Obviously, the advice by the good-natured Haruhi had gone untaken by the twins. The two of them grinned and flapped their hands at her, dismissing it with a "Don't worry, she wouldn't die from over excessive teasing."

"How do you know I wouldn't?" The long-haired commoner retorted.

"Because my daughter isn't suicidal."

Miyuki's head snapped up as a familiar figure stepped into the already crowded store. Her eyes were now trained to glare directly at the woman she called her mother, betrayal flashed in her mind as her mother's expression morphed to one of confusion.

"What?"

"How could you leave me alone with all of them?!"

Hands gripping into a shopping bag or two, the woman laughed. "I couldn't bear to interfere with youths having fun can I? Besides, I'm helping you to get more potential relationships."

She was like a steamed vegetable, practically fuming with humiliation that her own family member had to rub it in.

"A lost is a lost nonetheless." The voice at her side drawled again.

"Ah well, guess you've tried your best Yuki-chan."

She gritted her teeth and faced the front, lips puckering a little in annoyance.

She hated losing.

Luck had stopped shining her power at her way ever since she met Hitachiin Kaoru, shallow trash number one. And now, the trash had… had reproduced and multiplied to two! Two! What did she do to receiv-

Wait.

"_Ah well, guess you've tried your best Yuki-chan."_

_Yuki-chan?_

The corner of her lips twitched. Slowly, tentatively, her mouth curved up into a full formed smirk. She turned to her right slowly, meeting the confused gaze of one of the twins.

Everything clicked.

"It's kind of late now isn't it? Don't you think it's time to go now, _Kaoru_?"

Eyes widened, the strain causing him to blink several times as he slowly drew back to stand up straight. Miyuki turned to face the other Hitachiin twin, her smirk still plastered on her face triumphantly. "Something wrong, Hikaru?"

"N…no…" came the unsteady reply as the twins kept their gazes on the smug commoner. The room seemed to have quietened down to the point where Miyuki found herself in an extremely uncomfortable position.

"How did you know?"

This time, she bit back another smile. She twirled proudly away to keep a more comfortable distance between her and her spectators, face glowing with pride.

"Only Kaoru says 'Yuki-chan'." She shrugged nonchalantly in mockery and a flicker a smile graced her face.

"I probably can't identify you to apart right away… yet." She added extra emphasis on the word before her smile grew wider.

"But one thing's for sure, the two of you are equally on par in terms of your sadist and twisted minds."

* * *

End.

* * *

Author's Notes

Lazy author preparing to be maimed for her lateness here XD

I've been toying around with the sequel title and plot for a few weeks now, and all the ideas were really, well, not very good. Just when I was about to give up… I came across a certain book, and then, everything just fit into place! I found the title and the plot. God I was so excited I already wrote half the prologue of the sequel ^o^

I apologize in advance for the too rushed pace of this chapter and the lack of description if any.

Next up, a few points you should be aware of...

.Miyuki is still oblivious to the fact that Haruhi dear is a girl (a little dull there isn't she? tsk tsk...)

.The focus is on the Hitachiin twins, thus the lack of appearnce of the other HC members (will take care of that in the future chapters)

.Miyuki acknowledged Haruhi's advice but is still unable to grasp the concept... yet.

* * *

Review Responses

Thanks mystakenidentity! I wanted to put emphasis on Hikaru, but I found a better chapter to put it in. I'll have to work on the brotherly relationship more in the chapter to make up for it :D

Thanks sunshine! Sorry for the longggg updateless days! Yes, I'm not dead!! I appreciate the support and the motivation that helped to whip my lazy ass into working! :D

Thanks WolfKeeper989! I've made progress! Though it's disappointing since this is more of a filler chapter, hope it's enough to make up for the long period of absense! :D

Thanks Kouyan! This is not the official chapter where she meets Hikaru! I reserved a special chapter that focuses on the real meeting (one on one) between them in future! :D

Thanks Jayrin Paige! Yay, my first guesser! *Clap clap clap!!!!* The fluff has been postphone till the next chapter :D This is just the introduction. I got so frustrated with this dang chapter I rewrote it like 132432534454 times!

Thanks tsukiyukikage! I have this uber big problem with grammatical and spelling errors that drives some people crazy sometimes :D I should get a beta-reader soon! I'm no good at reviewing since I have short attention span!

Thanks cannec616! It means a lot to have someone saying that they like it :D Kaoru needs more attention, I second that!

Thanks Little Patch of Heaven! Seriously, I really like that idea :D I need to start working on nicknames that suits her!! It's a boring chapter, I know, bear with it! Hah, it's actually kinda obvious who are the specimens! *Goes back to thinking of names*

Thanks ShadowYashi! I'm working on keeping her as realisic as possible! :D This chapter leans more towards boring introduction stuff, don't fall asleep there :D

Thanks y0ur-DoWnFaLl! Lazy writer guilty of uber lateness here :D Sorry to keep you waiting and I appreciated your comment!


	7. Of animals and people

* * *

**Puppy Love**

**Chapter 7 ~ Of animals and people

* * *

**

Leaving his footsteps quietly into her heart before she was even aware.

* * *

Because this is how love goes.

"_Listen to me Yuki, you have to unders-"_

_The brunette youth pushed the chair back and promptly stalked off, just as a hand struck out and grasped her upper arm firmly. _

"_You can't just run away every time something goes against your wishes Miyuki! Act your age and spare a thought-"_

_She wrenched her hand away as if disgusted and swerved to face the woman before her, anger rearing its ugly head. _

"_Spare a thought?" she laughed harshly out loud. "Spare a thought for what? For poor dad that finds money more important than her daughter? Or for pitiful mum that never knew what I wanted?"_

_A flash of hurt passed through the older woman's face as she opened and closed her mouth, speechless. Her eyes followed the form of the brunette as the youth stopped short right in front of the door._

"_What I want from my parents, do you even know?"_

_Last words, and the door opened and slammed shut._

_

* * *

_

He was, like always, standing in front of the now familiar shop again, smiling a little at the routine. It was refreshing, it was special, it was…

The front door opened abruptly, just enough for him to jerk as something clashed against the front of his body.

…weird.

Instinctively, his hands reached upwards and steadied the girl, nudging her backwards slightly as he ducked his head a little out of curiosity to get a glimpse of her face.

His breath caught.

Topaz eyes widened then narrowed in confusion, his hands slipped to cup both of hers in comfort. Kaoru lowered his head and met her hardened gaze.

"What's wrong?" He prompted, mindful in keeping his tone less probing. She kept silent and glanced away at the pavement.

Kaoru sighed inwardly. _Emotional girls are the worst type of torture._ Releasing one grip of her hand, he walked backwards and tugged her along with their intertwined hands. "Let's go somewhere else."

.

* * *

.

"Does it please you to know that you are making me uncomfortable?"

Pulling slowly out of her little bubble, the brunette turned and glanced at the speaker.

"Huh…?"

Kaoru turned his head forwards and sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair as he tipped his head and leaned back to lie on the grass.

"I'm trying to spark a conversation here, and you just mumble a reply and make me feel like I'm no better than the dirt under your feet."

A smile crept up her face. "I like dirt better. All I have to do is wash them off to get rid of it. You, on the other hand…" She deliberately trailed off as he scoffed in mock arrogance. Rising up to a sitting position again, he bumped a shoulder with hers and grinned.

"You just don't want to admit you like me around you. You're always staring out of the window, just waiting for me to show up aren't you?"

Her mouth parted a little in disbelief.

"What's with the arrogance and ego doubled today?"

Kaoru shrugged a shoulder. "It did succeed in making you open up right?"

She blinked at him, seemingly slightly caught off guard by his statement. A small smile slipped on her face and she turned to the side to cover it.

"So are you going to tell me what happened now?"

The smile dropped into a frown.

"Way to ruin the mood." She mumbled softly. He chuckled.

A terse silence followed as the two waited for things to fall into a more comfortable atmosphere, a calmer one. Finally, she breathed heavily, shoulders sagged as she leaned forward and stretched her legs.

"What is your Okaa-san like?"

He raised an eyebrow questioningly, turning only his head to face her as she stared at her hands on her lap. Deciding to answer rather than argue, Kaoru took a few moments to contemplate the question.

"She's a decent one I guess, but definitely not a good one."

"That's harsh…" she murmured. "Bad relation?"

He shook his head and turned to look forward, staring at the tree several feet away. "She was pretty much detached from our lives, always working, always talking to business associates."

She didn't speak for a while. "That doesn't mean she doesn't understand you guys."

"She can't tell Hikaru and me apart."

If that was an attempt at stubbing her, he had effectively succeeded.

He made no indication of noticing it, too engrossed in immersing himself in his words. It felt nice to tell about his problems, like a bind being untied.

"I used to resent her so much for it. It's ridiculous that a mother can't even tell her sons apart."

"And now?" she asked quietly. He smiled again, turning his head sideways lazily.

"I got over it, I'd rather have Hikaru."

Miyuki scrunched her nose up in disdain, eyes reflexively squinting. "That came out so wrong."

He laughed, swinging an arm around her shoulders and dragging her closer to him. She stiffened at the sudden contact, only to relax guiltily back.

This was… pleasant…

"Don't you know Hikaru and I am an incest couple?" He teased lightly, watching as her expression morphed into one of amusement.

"When's the wedding?" Her face was straining to keep neutral and serious.

"Soon, we're already planning the location of our new house."

She couldn't help it this time, throwing her head back and laughing, thoroughly entertained. Something in his mind cheered triumphantly at her uplifted mood. Kaoru blinked and shook his head, if this was just another attempt at cheering girls up…

…then what was with the sudden quickening in his heartbeat just moments before?

"You've asked your question, it's my turn."

"Nothing about my family."

"That's not fair."

She beamed. "Go cry to your incest partner! Let's get this over with."

A few minutes of silence as Kaoru thought briefly for a questioning.

_Click._

"Tell me about your first impression of the Host Club members."

Still mildly aware of the arm around her shoulders, she unconsciously turned a little more carefully to catch his gaze to avoid his removal of his arm. It was too snug of a position for her to give it up.

God she sounded desperate…

"You sure you want to hear about it?"

"I'm sure it's not _too_ bad." Was the reply as he offered a grin.

"Tamaki scares me."

"What a surprise." He drawled, earning a swift elbow jerk in his ribs.

"It's just… I'm not used to people popping out of nowhere and invading my personal bubble. He's like… like some kind of hyperactive doggy." She shrugged noncommittally while he cocked his head in confusion.

"You're comparing Tono to a dog?"

She flushed and smiled sheepishly. "I'm no good with analogies." A cough as Miyuki spoke again. "And Kyouya looks a little… suspicious."

"Pardon?"

"He just likes to do this, this pushing up his glasses things," a pause here as the brunette vaguely imitated the action before continuing. "And he has this scary look that makes me think that he's planning something every single time."

Kaoru chuckled, using the hand that was wrapped around her to pat her cheek faintly. "He's always like that. What kind of animal would you describe him as then?"

Miyuki bit her lips lightly as images flashed through her mind. "A witch's black cat… I guess…"

He forced a smirk away, keeping the information stored at the back of his head. "What about Honey-sempai?"

This time, a groan bubbled through her vocal cords as she covered her face in embarrassment. "It was so stupid, why didn't you tell me Honey and Tamaki weren't related?!"

"You never asked." He stated dully.

She mumbled incoherent curses under her breath and tilted her head lazily to the side – right to his shoulder. At that single moment that she realised this, her eyes shut in exasperation once again. _Kami-sama… Just dig me and hole and bury me in it…_

He noticed the sudden contact, no doubt a little surprised, though it faded into curiosity as he peered and caught a glimpse of her distorted facial expression, which looked suspiciously like she was in pain.

Just as he thought about saying something to ease the sudden silence, she blurted out "Yellow puppy!" out of nowhere.

"What…?"

Miyuki stumbled over her words a little, but managed to keep her words in a line of complete sentence. "Blonde hair, cute like a little puppy I guess… and Mori could be this black, older dog that protects him."

The atmosphere seemed to have at least recovered slightly. He still had an arm around her. She continued to let her head rest on his shoulder.

"What about Haruhi?"

She had to smile as she recalled the advice Haruhi had given her. At least he was the only _normal _person in the Host Club apparently.

"Bunnies. Bunnies with droopy ears."

He raised an eyebrow as she nodded to herself.

"Why?"

Miyuki laughed softly then, shrugging a shoulder nonchalantly.

"Haruhi has this, this special attraction that just brings people to him. Even with the seemingly bored air that surrounds him." She frowned a little, trying to grasp the right words to express her thoughts. He was just there, listening to her answer.

And then, it happened.

It was sudden, but right then the wind blew gently, ruffling her hair slightly and he caught a distinct scent of her. She must have just showered not long ago, the whiff of peach still lingered in his sense.

His senses went straight to lock down and nothing comprehended in his mind. The fragrance was strangely intoxicating.

"…he was a girl."

And then his eyes shot open.

"Haruhi's a boy!"

A startled silence. He had pushed himself straighter up, arms still around her. But his abrupt words had interrupted and startled her to remove her head from his shoulders and tilt her head to face him.

He shifted under her probing stare and she narrowed her eyes.

"Talk."

She knew him so scarily well at that point of time it took several moments for them to get over the sudden feeling.

Finally, he sighed. What was the point of keeping it from her anyway? She didn't even go to their school in the first place.

"Haruhi's a girl."

_Well._

"I would say I'm stunned, shocked, or whatever. But honestly, the question I'm waiting to ask is _what _in the world is wrong with the whole lot of you?"

That earned her a smile followed with a chuckle.

"Haruhi broke one of the Host Club's properties when she enrolled here."

"And she dressed like a boy to make herself feel better?"

Kaoru flicked her nose playfully and tugged her to his side more snugly again, so that her head laid back on his shoulders.

"Kyouya wanted her to pose as a boy and act as a host to pay off her debts."

She took a minute to digest the information before promptly bursting into laughter.

"That has got to be the stupidest way-"

"The vase was worth eight million yen."

Miyuki choked on air in the midst of her laughter, jerking her head forward while he patted her back.

"I could buy so many things with eight million yen." She groaned out loud. Kaoru smirked and leaned down so that his lips were inches from her ear.

"If you tell anyone outside of the Host Club about this," He spoke softly, deliberately adding in that dramatic dark tone. "I'll have to kill you."

"You wouldn't," he could hear the smile in her voice. "You're not _that _dumb."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment."

She snorted not so gracefully. "So says the flirting abomination with a clone."

"Oh? Is that jealousy?" he really couldn't resist taunting her sometimes. It was turning into a natural reaction… Perhaps he should start kicking the habit.

…

…

…

Hah…

"Please! I would have gladly sold the whole lot of you to those giggling fools if I could!"

He smiled, but made no other reply. Just like that, the light bickering turned into a quiet moment.

"Kaoru?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks."

"…Will you tell me?"

A pause. A smile.

"Yeah."

And there was nothing more to be said.

Oh wait.

"Don't think I'm not going to probe about Haruhi's gender any further Hitachiin Kaoru."

* * *

Review responses.

Thanks WolfKeeper989! I need to get back on track... hehehhe... =D

Thanks sunshine! It's nice to know that my chapter has evoked a positive reaction from readers =D Oh and to answer your question, the story is following mainly the manga series actually. I don't really like sitting there bored while the anime upload buffers forever... hahah

Thanks littleshadowgirl! I was taking a risk of being flamed if the line came out too stupid for readers. So its a decent line... right? *holds up gun* fufufu... =P

Thanks mystakenidentity! I was too lazy to add a little more drama in it. Maybe I'll do it someday... when I actually can pull that lazy stick outta my ass... XP

Thanks SarcasticProcrastinator-AMLF! Lols! Nice to know that something actually let the readers remember it by =D

Thanks Candy Anime Luver! Aww, thanks for the comment! I feel happy all over XD Sorry, I get excited real easily!

Thanks Element Girls! Let's just hope that this story doesn't disappoint... :P Then again, I like to think that there's a good story somewhere out there, waiting for me to sieve through the other searched results :D okay I'm getting overly dramatic here.

Thanks The Antelopic Nature Girl. Says U! Hah! Three reviews from you in the row! It's not often to see someone bothering to review for a few chapters at a time so thanks =D I updated!! *wink wink* haha, excuse my extremely shameless moment... I sound so desperate!

Thanks Izaquix078! It's reviews like this that guilts me into writing something. I'm so sorry for the long wait XP And thanks for the push!

Thanks iKawaiiAishiteru! And that is also another kind of review that makes me feel like I'll have to pull up my socks and TYPE!!! =D Thanks for the push!

Thanks dokuki! Again, I'm not too sure if this chapter would meet up to any of the standards compared to the other chapters. =D An update marks the start of more updates! wait... I don't think I'm making sense... never mind...

& Thanks for reading, readers!

* * *

Author's Notes (Please read XP)

Okay, firstly, I'll like to apologize sincerely for the lack of updates these few months. I won't feed you any half-assed excuse because even though school load has tripled recently, procrastination and distractions are probably to blame too. So, sorry guys.

I'm probably putting my other story on temporary hiatus to finish this series first. I will try my best to update as soon as possible.

Thanks for putting up with my disgusting habits guys.


	8. Just a few earth shattering revelations

**Puppy Love**

**Chapter 8 ~ Just a few earth shattering revelations

* * *

**

_Have you ever had that special feeling that so naturally picks out the one you like amongst the billions in this world?

* * *

_

Common sense should have told her nothing good would come out from entering the habitat in which abomination one and abomination two reside.

Common sense should have told her that things would always work against her whenever _he's _around.

Common sense _should _have.

Emphasis on _should._

Inwardly screaming bloody murder at Kaoru, Miyuki cast yet another hateful glance across the emptiness of the place.

'If this is karma,' she thought wryly,

'I'm sorry I didn't do the world a good deed and pummel Hitachiin Kaoru to death with a dog bowl…'

The brunette commoner stopped in the thousandth hallway intersection of the Ouran High School, tiredly glancing around for signs of life.

Why in the world was she here in the first place?

Oh right... she didn't have a choice in the first place...

He never asked. All he did was show up _again _in front of her school, hauled her into the limousine, and proceeded to drive off before she even knew what happened.

She had been so bored with the entire charade that she had sneaked out of the Third Music Room...

...only to land herself in the maze of shallow trash...

...

...

"ARGHHHHHHH!!!!!"

* * *

He couldn't help but stifle a sigh.

How was it possible for someone to just disappear without anyone knowing? The freaking room was so crowded!

He groaned. _Who else… _She never ceased to amaze him.

While Tamaki and Honey had been frantic and jumpy over the vanishing act of a certain brunette, Kyouya had stood his ground pretty well, claiming that she was not _that _foolish to navigate around in hopes of running away.

After much argument and melodrama – mostly in Tamaki's part, Kyouya eventually excused the twins in search of the missing 'princess', with the condition of returning in an hour, whether she was lost or found.

Wow… He could just feel the concern radiating off of Kyouya…

Rolling his eyes once again, the auburn teen stuffed his hands in his pants pocket and turned around the corner.

He could only pray that Miyuki wasn't _that _desperate to navigate out of an unfamiliar place.

No one was that dumb… right?

* * *

The place was so annoyingly dumb!

What in God's name was the contractor behind the design of the school thinking!? How much space does the Ouran students need? The entire was school was probably thrice as big as her own school!

It was _not _her fault at all!

Not at all.

Her pace grew quicker as her frustration built, movements jerky and twitchy as she trudged pass the largest indoor swimming pool she ever had the honour to live and witness.

Sure, she's already passed an enormous cafeteria, a library with waiters serving coffee and the largest swimming pool. Why not let her find recreational room where the students-

Her hands froze on the knobs of the half opened twin oak doors. Light streamed into the room as her eyes widened in disbelief.

The room was large – surprise, surprise –, the lighting dim and the interior slightly dark. Several groups of people were at their respective _pool tables,_ holding billiard cues as they surveyed the game.

…

…

_Of course…_

Resisting the urge to blow, she turned away. Her steps faltered and slowed to a stop at the three-way intersection and screamed.

"This is fun." Someone drawled behind her, not even bothering to conceal the amusement in his words.

Miyuki spun around. Her eyes narrowed.

"Are you abomination one, or abomination two?"

Standing merely a few steps away, his golden eyes reflected undisguised humour at her ruffled appearance.

"Abomination One, Hitachiin Kaoru." He added a small bow for dramatic effect.

Her left eyelid twitched as she lifted a finger to point threateningly at him.

"If you don't get me out of here in five minutes, I'll set the dogs, cats, hamsters, rabbits, whatever at you!"

He smiled easily.

"If you don't treat me nice, I'll leave you here and get _Milord _to bring you back."

She was a raging lioness by now by now.

Without a single warning, her hands flew up in front of her. Kaoru jerked back in surprise at her sudden movement, though there was still a distance between them despite the outstretched hand.

Her eyes reflected distaste as she strangled thin air with her hands. He lifted an eyebrow in confusion.

_Was she… thinking about choking… him?_

She proceeded to compress the 'strangled body' into a lump of ball. Kaoru blinked.

Throwing the imaginary lump to the ground, Miyuki brought the soles of her feet up and stomped on the place where the target was viciously, twisting her ankles as the balls of her shoe flattened on the ground. The movement seemed to resemble putting out a cigarette butt.

He swallowed a laugh, lips pulling into a thin line and pushed away from the wall he was leaning on, grinning when the restriction was too painful. The brunette, who found that her threatens were useless, settled for a glum glare, shoulders slumped.

"Wipe that smile off your face before I really strangle you Hitachiin."

"I'm not smirking."

"Yes you are!" She accused, poking the side of his lips. "There it is! Your lips are curved!"

"Your maturity astounds me." He laughed, turning his head to bite lightly on her finger. She retracted her hand rapidly and slapped his arm, flushing scarlet while frowning, embarrassed.

"Don't sulk, Yuki-chan. Stay that way too long and you wouldn't be able to lift that frown from your face ever again." He chanted gloatingly as she fell in step with his pace.

"If I have to see you everyday, I don't think it'll ever go away."

"That hurts."

"I'll tell you when I care."

Kaoru smiled.

"Don't try to run next time, I don't want to have to search for you again."

She groaned, feeling the wave of exasperation slowly seeping away. "You have no idea how torturous it was, lost in this maze of utter shallowness."

"I think I got a pretty good idea when you screamed at the hallway seconds ago. What in the world were you doing?" He questioned curiously.

Miyuki flushed and groaned miserably.

"Just take us back so that I can go sulk in peace while you and abomination two chat up those lovesick girls like the flirting pigs you are."

He laughed out loud at the way she unknowingly placed extra emphasise on the last few words.

"You're turning green Yuki-chan."

The brunette huffed and turned to face the other way, away from him.

"I just don't get how you all can just taunt them with hopes and dreams before sending them crashing right back to reality."

Or maybe, she just didn't get how she felt that distinct feeling of discomfort when watching him please those girls into fairytale land, though this was something she'll never admit to him over her dead body.

Kaoru shrugged and lifted his arms to cross over his head as they moved, contemplating the question because there was nothing else to do.

"Girls come to the Host Club not for us to take them to fairytale land, but for us to take over the position of their prince until theirs arrive."

She frowned. "What about the rest that think of you guys as _their_ prince?"

He cocked a crooked grin at her.

"They'll just have to learn that we're not who they think we are."

She stopped moving at his words and stared at him.

Kaoru barely noticed it until moving a few more steps ahead. Turning back, he lowered his arms and shot a questioning look at her.

She stared at him, looking at him like some sort of realisation had just struck her.

"Something wrong Yuki?" He asked curiously.

Miyuki shook her head and carried on her pace, smiling a little.

"Nothing's wrong. Nothing at all."

-.-.-.-.-

A couple of minutes later found the resigned brunette and a rather pleased auburn teen standing stagnant in front of the doors of the Third Music Room.

"The imminence of shallowness." She scrunched her nose in disgust. "All that trouble and I'm right back where I started."

Kaoru chuckled, patting her head in mock sympathy as he nudged her forward to open the door.

"No experiment escapes the clutches of the Host Club."

She leaned forward to rest her hands on the door, fully intending to push open it when she froze in her movements.

A smile flitted across her face, even though he couldn't see it with her back against him.

"Thanks for bring me back, Hikaru."

His eyes widened as she secretly hid her satisfaction and pushed the oak door forward.

"_Look deep into them, there're a lot more differences between Hikaru and Kaoru than you think."_

Although the glee in her didn't last too long, her smile faded when a familiar flash of a figure charged towards her.

_God, someone help…

* * *

_

He first saw her before he saw his brother.

She was being twirled in circles by Tamaki and when he looked past her to Hikaru, what he saw wasn't the irritation he had left with when sent away to search for the missing girl.

What Kaoru saw was the blatant shock in his brother's eyes as he kept them focused on the brunette.

He turned his gaze back to the commoner when his brother ignored him. A pair of gleaming brown eyes met his straight.

Her eyes literally sparkled with excitement. Suddenly, those pair of orbs was all he could focus on.

And then, she smiled.

A vibrant, radiant smile that lit up her face and accelerated the rate of his heartbeat. She was suddenly so beautiful he couldn't see anything but the uplift of her lips and the lustrous way her eyes lit up.

So caught up in the moment he didn't realise his brother had long approached him and placed himself right beside him by the loveseat.

"You know Kaoru," He began, eyes sliding over to his brother, who had turned away when the brunette commoner moved to sit by the window again.

"You have got to be one of the luckiest morons in the world to meet someone right and not make a move yet."

Kaoru blinked at him, confusion etched deep in his features.

"What happened?"

Hikaru smirked, leaning back as he yawned in mock casualness.

"Just a few earth shattering discoveries," he eyed Kaoru lazily.

"If you're smart, you'll go and find it out from her brother dear."

_Maybe it wasn't that bad of an idea to dye his hair at a later date instead after all..._

* * *

"Hello?"

"_Hey."_

She smiled into the phone, turning to lean against the wall as the warmth of his voice soothed her.

"Aren't you supposed to be in a meeting?"

A short laugh.

"_Nothing's more important than my dear wife." _

She struggled to keep the grin off her face.

"Your cheekiness is something I can never get bored off."

He laughed deeply as they shared a moment together.

"_How did it go?"_

There goes the mood.

She sighed heavily, her head dropped to stare at the ground.

"_It didn't go well huh?"_

"She has your temper." She teased lightly.

…

"_So, is she there?"_

"She's made some new friends."

"_Oh?"_

"A couple of lovely boys from that Ouran High."

"…_Boys?"_

She sighed.

"Don't start, please. I don't like the idea of her with some boys. But," Pausing, she bit her lip and frowned lightly.

"But it's the least we can do. For all the times we weren't there for her."

.

.

.

"_Just a little bit longer, we'll convince her. We'll be together again."_

Mika smiled.

"I hope so."

* * *

End

* * *

**Author's notes**

Guess what!!

…

…

You're supposed to say "_What?!"_

Okay, let's try again :D

Guess what!!

"_What?!"_

I updated!!!

"…"

…

What?! Don't look at me like I'm mad! I didn't eat any chocolates while typing, I swear! *Wipes lingering smudge away from corner of lips*

Chocolates are one of the best things man created! Weeeeeee!

Did I mention chocolates rock?

Lols. Chapter is a little more of pushing things back to reality. I'll fluff all of you to death in the next chapter! Muahahahah. Get ready to be fluffed with one of the fluffiest fluff you'll ever get fluffed in this fluffy series!

...

okay, I'll stop now :D

**Important! Chapter 6 has been re-edited(scene towards the end, starting from the analogy of Haruhi). Please do read if you haven't done so! **

* * *

**Reviews Response**

Thanks Neko66! Aw! You're too kind ^o^. Hohohohh. Next chapter would be faster!

Thanks iKawaiiAishiteru! I shall not die, for I have... chocolates!! :D This has got to be one of my fluffiest series! Fufufufu, I'm rushing to start the sequel!

Thanks WolfKeeper989! Don't you just hate it when you're mind blanks out in the middle to typing a chapter :D I'll update the next one faster! Gogogogo!

Thanks queenofspades19! Its a fluff bomb :D And I'm proud of it! Heheheh

Thanks mystakenidentity! This chapter may bore you a little without the fluff. Bear with me! :D

Thanks TheAntelopicNatureGirl. Says U! LoL! I like it. Fabby doo! Fabby doo! Fabby doo! Fabby doo! Okay... now I'm just being annoying XD

Thanks Infinite101! I pray to finish this series before my laziness medication finishes! :D I'll work to keep it as ggreat as possible!

Thanks Element Girls! Always look on the bright side of life~ *tu tu, tu tu tu tu tu tu* X) And I was hoping to use you to help me sift for great fictions. Dang. Muahahahahha! :D

Thanks Normal-looking Freak! That was a spontaneous kinda analogy :P Thank you awesome moment!

Thanks sunshine! I'll finish it, even if it kills me! Weeee~

Thanks StarMimi! Well keep reading if it doesn't disappoint! :D The number of chapters are counting down to about 5 more!

Thanks Izaquix078! My class is full of boys with all the feeding and sitting on each others laps! XD Thank them for the inspiration!

Thanks dokuki! I'm staring up my engine of writing, ready to go! Zroommmmmmmmmm! :D

Thanks annoyed by you! I'll keep the chapters coming. Spamming if I can! :P

Thanks Twilight Red Tammy! I never thought of Miyuki to turn out like this. Not in a bad way of course. I wasn't even thinking about how she'll develop as a series character! I'm glad the response so far has been positive of her though! As for the drawing of her, I'll love to let your drawing skills paint her into a real character! Its really sweet! XD My first reader who is willing to draw my OC *sighs dreamily* XD


	9. Acting like the way you would

**Puppy Love**

**Chapter 9 ~ Acting like the way you would.

* * *

**

Leaving his footsteps quietly into her heart. **

* * *

**

_Obsessive Abomination Disorder_

_Diagnosis: Patients suffering from OAD are usually girls, with the exception of a small proportion of the male population. This disease is believed to be passed on when in contact with Abominations One and Two for too long. Once contracted, it could lead to temporary brain malfunction when around abominations, as well as constant thoughts relating to them._

_Syndromes: Starry eyes and inability to focus on anything else when near the Hitachiin twins. Over-excessive use of annoyingly high pitched girlish giggles or blushing and gushing at their every action._

_Medical advances are still inadequate in finding a cure as of now. We therefore urge the public to get your vaccination shots taken early or stay away from the abominations completely._

_Prevention is better than cure. Especially if there's no cure…_

The tip of her pen clicked as Miyuki nodded to herself, satisfied with her 'research'.

The fiasco the day before had yet to wear off; she was still slightly disorientated and possibly traumatized for life. Her mind was playing tug-a-war as she helplessly adverted her gaze to the entrance of the store every once in a while.

Denial and admittance, clashing in her mind as she struggled to make sense of reality.

On one hand, the venture into Abomination One and Two's habitat had been less horrifying than her little overused imagination depicted. She even found herself… Intrigued, perhaps?

Not to mention the swell of pride she felt when the puzzle of the twins was solved. The smile that she couldn't hide when she saw him wasn't just her triumph. A part of her had been smiling at the knowledge that he would be proud of her.

And there it was, the problem. Choosing to accept that something had wedged itself between them? Or denying everything?

The bells on the top of the entrance door jiggled crisply then.

Her ears perked up despite her inner protest as she lifted her head to seek out the familiar figure she knew would be there. Her insides flipped and clenched almost excitedly. Even the usual glower she used to adorn at his arrival seemed to have vanished.

"Abomination." She greeted evenly, though the curve of her lips had long betrayed her composure. There was a suspicious quirk at the corner of his lips as he pulled a serious look to play along with her games.

"Commoner." He nodded solemnly. The grin on the brunette's face spilled before she could stop herself.

It was that unbelievably jumpy and preppy feeling that bounced back and forth in her, making every little thing seem so unexplainably… _happy._

She was turning into a fan-girl.

Oh god… And she wasn't resenting it as much as she should.

Kaoru stepped closer to the counter and the smile grew more unnatural as he leant his arms on the counter, facing her. The silence that enveloped the surrounding was unexpected as they stared at each other wordlessly.

"Um…Hi…" She started, with no idea what to say. He laughed at her pathetic attempt and shook his head.

"So, how did you find Ouran Academy?" He slipped the question in with casualness.

"Meh," shoulder shrugged dismissively. "It was alright. Too big and fancy for me."

A curve of his lips and he tilted his head inquisitively. "Don't girls dream of living and studying in such environments?"

She would rather die than tell him she was only miffed at the trip because she was lost and humiliated by the fact…

"Hikaru seems to like you too." He continued, watching her unwaveringly. Miyuki smiled, realisation came at his hidden motive.

"Oh?" Mock ignorance in her words, the grin split unabashed. He narrowed his eyes accusingly, knowing that she was already aware of where the questions were going at.

"How did you know?"

She titled her head to the side and shrugged, the inner her smirking in victory.

There was so much resemblance in their appearance that even she was surprised to have told them apart yesterday. No, it wasn't their appearance that sorted them as different personas.

The way they talked, they way they treated others, the way they reacted to different scenarios.

He was gently playful; his brother was sportingly entertaining. He answered her questions with playfully shameless replies; his brother loved stubbing her with witty comebacks.

His brother didn't spend his time hanging around her, not like the way he did.

Miyuki caught herself staring into the eyes that had unknowingly captivated her. The golden orbs that held a kind of boyish charm that many fought to imitate. They were flashing at her with curiosity that was slowly diluting into some sort of... dazedness.

He didn't know when it happened, but the question that he had shot towards her was suddenly shoved to the back of his mind. The auburn-haired couldn't seem to concentrate. The words lingering in his head was suddenly so foreign. Whispering words of encouragement.

_Move forward._

_Push forward._

And before Kaoru Hitachiin realised what in the world was happening, his inner self had already taken over his subconscious mind and he was leaning in.

Leaning towards her, his arms were slowly uncrossing and his palms were on the counter, supporting and boosting him into straightening his posture, to shorten the distance between their faces.

Slowly, steadily. He towered over her sitting frame just by an inch or two.

Miyuki was never the most realistic person in the planet.

In fact, her mind literally shuts down when faced with a new situation.

Like the pretty face that was slowly inching towards her…

Natural reflexes triggered by fear drove her to her first reaction – retreat.

She pushed her chair back without thinking. The legs of the chair screeched loudly in irritation, causing both of them to cringe at the same time.

The next thing that happened didn't help in soothing the horrible situation either.

The bottom of the chair's legs found itself stuck on the uneven tiles and tipped backwards. Her arms reached out in one desperate attempt to grab for the corner of the counter as she yelped in shock.

His instinct kicked in and an arm shot out to make a grab for her flailing hands. Kaoru caught one of her hands, forcibly tugging her forward. Her legs met the floor jerkily and the grip pulled her forward, stomach meeting the edge of the counter in a painful motion. Miyuki grimaced and moaned in agony as her fingernails dug into the flesh of the abomination.

He let out a grunt and removed his grip while she slipped both hands to cradle her stomach, bending over and resting her forehead on the surface of the counter.

"I'm going to die…" a dramatic cry of agony that lifted the frown on his face. Smiling in amusement, he nudged her into standing up straight and reached for her.

"Let me se – Ouch!" his hand retracted back to his sides and she glared at him.

"I'll rather die than let you touch me." She muttered grudgingly, turning her back and stepping a couple of steps away from him.

There was about a hundred percent likeliness that she would turn into a human tomato if his hand was touching her tummy anyway...

Settling on ignoring the cretin that had caused her the pain, she gingerly lifted the ends of her shirt and scanned the damage done, all the while facing away from him. Black and blue. Miyuki groaned again.

Two hands slipped behind her and rested themselves shamelessly on the top of her shoulders before pulling her backwards. She staggered a few steps and a voice drawled from her right ear, breath on her cheek when she steadied herself.

"That looks painful."

Eyes widening almost comically, she screeched and moved away, a hand pressed on her chest as she heaved and swallowed air greedily.

"GET OFF THE COUNTER!" the scream echoed and masked all the flush she felt when he was that close to her moments ago. Wincing slight at the stab of soreness that struck when she shouted, the brunette clutched her abdomen loosely.

Kaoru was perched rather comfortably on his new seat, somehow finding just enough stealth to sit and swing his legs over the counter so that he was in _her_ territory. Leaning forward, he reached out and grasped both her hands, dragging her towards him before pressing her palms on his knees.

"I'll bite you if you move." He half-heartedly glared when she struggled to move away.

"Dragging me around like a doll isn't enough, now you're threatening to _bite _me..." The brunette mumbled, turning her head away as the heat rose to her cheeks again.

It should be illegal to have humans that perfect and charismatic. They ought to be locked up in prison and never live to see the sun…

He lifted the hems of her shirt up just a little, enough to inspect the damage the counter had inflicted. The distance that she not-so-sneakily placed between them did not go unnoticed; her hands were literally outstretched as she turned to look anywhere but at him.

Rolling his eyes at her childish actions, he frowned down at the bruise that marked the skin at her torso.

Miyuki shut her eyes tightly in embarrassment, silently cursing the devil that was crackling sadistically at her stupidity.

_Great, this makes it much less __**awkward **__doesn't it?_

She shuffled her feet restlessly and peeked from the corner of her eyes at him, watching. The question he had asked surfaced back in her head.

How did she know…?

The words tumbled out before she knew.

"When he talked."

Kaoru angled his head and stared questioningly as she looked down at the floor. Straightening, his hands released the corners of her shirt and slid down the length of her arm to rest on top of her hands, still on his knees.

"Pardon?"

She bit her lips and groaned inwardly. _This is embarrassing… I feel like a part me is going to die…_

"We talked on the way back, and his responses were just…" Miyuki paused, struggled to find a word that fit her purpose, "…weird."

Smiling at him, she shrugged a careless shoulder. "I wasn't even completely sure whether I had the right twin when I called him 'Hikaru'. It was just a spontaneous shot."

He was confused, his mind jumbled up and disbelieving. "Elaborate on the word 'weird'."

Miyuki sighed in frustration, scrunching her nose as she replayed the scene back in her head. The little conversations…

"It…It started when he found me, I guess." She looked at him again, waiting for the words to sink in. "The way he spoke… it was… like he was finding me as an amusing entertainment. And he bit me finger." She grinned sheepishly.

"Maybe all the times you spent annoying me had my brain creating a subconscious prediction to how you would react to things, and Hikaru just didn't act like the way you would."

Kaoru didn't speak, just stared at her blankly.

"Hey…" Her voice trailed off as her feet brought her closer to him. "Are you… alright in there?" Her eyes adverted up to his head.

_Not that it was fine in the first place… but…_

She lifted an eyebrow when the blank look in his eyes dissipated and a smile flickered across his face.

"We seem to be getting a lot of moments like this." He laughed softly.

It was only then, did she notice the suddenly lesser space between them. Her heart jerked to her throat in a smooth move.

"Don't ruin it." She growled, afraid that her composure would be lost. Insanity. All of this.

Kaoru flashed a little cheeky smile at her in response.

The suspicious hint of smile that she was trying to suppress didn't go unnoticed by the auburn-haired teen either, his head still processing the words she had said.

"…_and Hikaru just didn't act like the way you would."

* * *

_

Replacing the toothbrush back to its original place, she tied her hair into a messy bun and yawned lazily. Miyuki stepped out of the bathroom and padded silently across the hall, stopping short when her mother's voice drifted through the room.

"Everything's fine here so far. What about you?"

She couldn't help it despite knowing this was wrong. Her steps retracted as she listened through the slightly opened door, feeling the guilt seizing her insides with an uncomfortable grip.

She hadn't talked to her father since… since last week. They used to talk everyday.

"I see…" her mother murmured softly again, eyes downcast and hands idly fingering the bed sheets.

The brunette youth could suddenly feel the loneliness of the woman that never allowed herself to be weak in front of her daughter. The years did much not only to her appearance. Miyuki closed her eyes and turned away to rest her back on the wall next to the agile door, sliding down to a sitting position with knees propped up.

She listened as Mika forced a laugh and shook her head. "Kaoru's a nice boy, don't get so worked up." She paused and listened in as the man on the other line spoke even louder.

"She's not going to stay a spinster forever because you find faults in every single thing a boy she likes does. How is having auburn hair a bad thing?"

Another pause and she laughed.

"The criminal that robbed the hardware store had auburn hair too? That's the best you can come up with?"

Miyuki let out a small smile.

"I'm not on anyone's side! You're the one that used to tease her about not having a boyfriend!"

The sound from the other line grew animatedly louder and the woman released a sigh of defeat. "I don't know why we are even fighting about this…"

There was a long silence after the Mika's last words as Miyuki fidgeted restlessly outside the room. Just as she was about to get off the ground and leave, her mother's last words froze her in her tracks.

"I miss you too."

Tears brimmed in her eyes as she chased the voices away.

* * *

End.

* * *

Author's Notes

I cut down the fluffiness and saved a couple for the next few chapters =D

The initial plan was to get this beta-read first. I was about to send a request to this particular beta-reader until I found out from her profile that she hates OCs.. Sigh..

I'm going to send a request to another beta-reader for the next chapter =) A shout out to Hakumei. xo! You gave me the final shove to go look for a beta-reader =D

Lastly, thank you so much to Twilight Red Tammy for the adorable fan art =DD!!! thank you thank you!

P.S. **All reviews will be replied via the erm... reply button they have when I receive a review from now on =)

* * *

**Review Replies

Thank you Izaquix078! I wanted a little bit a 'growing up' element in this series! It adds up to the realism and connection with the show/manga. And yes, the romance must start! Get ready for my inner fangirl to be released! muaahahahaha! er-hem... sorry... got carried away there... heheh

Thank you L! I'm so sorry if I confused you amidst all that conversations =O Sorry! I've edited this one more than the previous chapter, hopefully it's be easier for you this time round! =D

Thank you sunshine! That Hikaru thing was actually a last minute arrangement! :D We all have a inner child in us that does things like that sometimes! I remember doing that strangling thing once, though my victim laughed instead... the threat totally backfired...-_-...

Thank you Hakumei. xo! LoL! I used to forget my password all the time, until I saved all my passwords in a document! =D I actually liked Hikaru before I changed my allegiance to Kaoru =P I suppose I still have those inner girl fantasies about knights in shining armors.. fufufu...

Your review was really very helpful! I think it made me realise that the quality seems to be sinking from my lack of attention to it. I've started looking for a beta-reader too though! (finally..heheh) And I'm hoping to spend more time in shaping the little details again. A thousand gratitude!!

* * *


	10. Untitled

**Puppy Love**

**Chapter 10 ~ Untitled.

* * *

**

"So…" He deliberately left the words trailing off, watching keenly with a hidden smirk. His brother frowned back at him.

"So?"

"You seem to be in an unusually _brooding_ mood there. Anything to share?" Hikaru taunted slyly, lowering the volume of the television before turning to face his brother.

The younger twin, just about to shake his head in reassurance, faltered for a moment. His brother watched shrewdly, the poorly suppressed smirk lurking.

"Well?"

Kaoru narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Hikaru, who returned his stare with equal vigour. The staring contest lasted for several moments, finally ending in favour of the black-haired teen. Kaoru sighed in defeat and leant his head back to rest on the couch.

Silence.

A resounding slap pierced through the air, followed swiftly by a yelp.

"What?!"

"What happened to not keeping secrets? And don't try to weasel your way out this time about Yuki-chan," Hikaru drawled in mock accusation, leaning back and focusing his full attention on his brother now. "That wasn't even a hit."

Kaoru rubbed sourly at his elbow, despite the little to no force applied to the slap.

"How do you know it's about Yuki anyway?" He frowned slowly, genuine curiosity etched in his voice.

Hikaru coughed into his palm and ruffled the hair at the back of his head anxiously. Kaoru lifted an eyebrow at his suddenly tensed posture.

"Hikaru?"

The dark-haired teen blinked a _little too _blankly at his brother before breaking into an awkward laugh.

"What else could've gotten you all brooding and quiet?" He shrugged stiffly.

_Kaoru didn't have to know._

_He didn't have to know that Yuki's pet shop had been bugged by little spy-cams yesterday at all, _

_Or that he wasn't the only one involved…_

"So…?" He urged, inwardly sighing in relief as the topic switched its course of direction.

Kaoru grunted, lifting both hands to cover his face in exasperation.

"I…" Pausing, he allowed his hands to fall lifelessly and turned to his brother, eyes shifty and hard.

"I think I like her."

…

…

"No kidding there Captain Obvious." Hikaru laughed softly, shaking his head. Kaoru groaned, visibly vexed beyond words.

Watching him wallowing in self-defeat, the dark-haired twin allowed the feeling of loss locked within the deep recess to surface for a moment. For closure.

He was losing his brother.

He was losing his brother, and this time, he wasn't planning to do anything about it.

There was no way to dispel the feeling of discomfort, as if his grip on his world was slowly relinquishing. They were bonded as tight as emotionally possible for the past sixteen years of their life, it will never be possible for any human to feel like they were losing their other half and not be afraid of it.

He grinned inwardly at the irony of this entire mess. The tides had changed, it seemed. Now he was the one feeling what Kaoru went through when he first fell in love with Haruhi.

Will he be able to be as noble and selfless as his brother?

No.

But was he willing to this?

.

.

Yes.

He was ready; ready for the change.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Hikaru asked as he pushed himself off his seat, stretching a little before angling his head towards his seemingly confused brother.

"Looks like we both have our own battle to fight now don't we?"

Smiling slightly, he made a move past his still stoned brother and glided out of the room, a hand stuffed in his pocket and a smile of accomplishment on his face.

Kaoru's finger traced circles on the couch, gazing dazedly at nothing even as his brother left the room. The words rang a racket in his head, demanding attention.

_I think I like her._

_I think I like her._

_I like her._

He closed his eyes, letting the little bits and pieces of memory engulf him. All of her; her with the gentle smile that lured him in initially; her with the character that entirely threw him off.

And her with the ability to see him as _one_ person.

"_You have got to be one of the luckiest morons in the world to meet someone right and not make a move yet."_

"_Well? What are you waiting for?"_

"_Looks like we both have our own battle to fight now don't we?"_

Hitachiin Kaoru smiled.

* * *

_I lost you to her today, but I've gained yet another step to individuality this way._

* * *

She first received a stalk of white rose when she arrived in school.

It laid daintily on the table, pure white and innocent with no indication of its purpose nor the name of the giver.

Confused but amused, she carefully kept the rose away.

* * *

The second rose arrived an hour after she found the first.

She was doodling mindlessly at the edge of her notes as the teacher droned on and on when the classroom door abruptly slid open. The students straightened up in their seats when a little girl, dressed in a white dress, padded into the room as if unaware that a lesson was being conducted.

Hands behind her back, her little steps stopped as she stood awkwardly right in front of the classroom, large brown eyes scanning the room. Her eyes lit up as soon as they landed on Miyuki, scrambling forward towards her. The little girl stuck both hands up lifted them to the brunette.

A single stalk of white rose was held between the small fingers of the girl.

Her breathing hitch and her heart stilled in disbelief at the situation.

Hesitating, she reached out and grasped the flower.

"W…Who is this from?"

The question directed to the little girl went unanswered as the angel smiled shyly and pranced out of the room, leaving the people in the room stunned and wordless.

* * *

The third rose came an hour after. The fourth one. The fifth.

Just like that, the roses kept coming and always an hour after she received the previous one. She found herself sitting up more alertly and the hazy fog in her mind slowly fading as the sender of the flowers became clearer.

"Did you know that a white rose symbolizes understanding, companionship, trust and commitment?" Her teacher had good-naturedly questioned as she was walking out of the last period in school that day, leaving the brunette wide-eyed and lips parted in surprise.

Despite her stubborn front, a subconscious part of her mind had already drawn up the possible suspect.

It could only be him.

Only he could be rich enough and knew of her obsession over the colour white…

The question that lingered was the _motive_ of his actions.

_Why?_

.

.

.

* * *

Miyuki had all her questions planned out. Occupying her 'territory' once again, she lifted her eyes, poised and ready to interrogate him with countless questions when the door to the shop opened.

All the practiced speech fled her when her eyes caught sight of what he was holding on to.

It was enormous. It was fluffy. It was white.

It was a giant puppy soft toy - complete with pointed ears, large eager eyes and a fluffy tail to match.

"Hi." He greeted evenly, moving to stand on the other side of the counter while presenting the stuffed dog to her.

She gaped openly as he smiled. Still in a numbing trance, she barely registered the fact that her hands had lifted themselves and were taking the stuffed toy off of his hands.

The plush pretty much engulfed her upper body. '_Soft'_, she registered absentmindedly, squeezing the toy a little.

She lowered it gently so that her head peeked out above the toy. The playful smirk she was expecting to see didn't appear. In its place was a shy, childish smile.

She decided then that that was the most adoring smile of his.

"So the roses today were from you too?" She had wanted to sound cooler and more composed, but the slight tremor that hinted of excitement had long given her away.

With the excessively loud thumping of his heart, he walked cautiously around the counter and inched towards her, suddenly nervous. They were not far apart, with only the oversized puppy plush separating them.

A little shrug, a sheepish smile - she acknowledged that as his way of saying yes.

"Why?" Her voice was slightly broken from the sudden pressure in the room. Shifting the toy away, she heaved it up so that it sat on the counter.

He shuffled closer, and butterflies in her stomach fluttered almost teasingly.

"I've been thinking…" He spoke with unnatural uneasiness.

"About?"

"Us." There was a note of finality in his voice, as if he had finally got the hang of things.

She didn't want to believe it, didn't want to fool herself into thinking that maybe, _just maybe_, her own fairytale was descending upon her.

_Thump._

"What about us?" Her voice was barely audible compared to her usual tone. She fought the urge to turn and run, pride and curiosity keeping her in place.

Could it really…?

"I'm planning to win this battle."

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

"I don't get it." She admitted after a long, pausing silence, looking down under the sudden attention his eyes were giving to her.

"It simply means," he started, stepping even closer to her, forcing her to look up at him again. "That I'm infatuated."

His voice was just a whisper now, seeing as they were merely a few steps apart.

_Th-thump. Th-thump. Th-thump._

She gulped, "You're going to have to spell it out before I hurl from anxiousness."

It was that irresistible grin of his that did her in. She made no protest as he lifted one of her hand and kissed the back of it, feather-like, never breaking the magnetic gaze. Gently, he tugged her forward and leant down towards her.

It seemed so long before their lips touched, just barely, hovering.

"Is this obvious enough now?" His lips grazed against hers with his every word.

She didn't answer. She _couldn't._

There weren't any cliché fireworks or blinding lights shining through at that moment. No, there was none of that. It was something entirely different, something more extraordinary.

It was a giant leap of her heart getting stuck in her throat, then the sudden halt in everything in her head, leaving only two things clear.

Her heart - that was seemingly frozen from shock.

And the fact that the unfamiliar pressure on her lips definitely _wasn't_ food.

As stupid as it sounds, the feeling was something she couldn't explain. It was like a sudden jerking pause that stopped all motions in her thoughts. She didn't even think such defiance against nature was possible, how time was able to come to a stand-still.

Every breath taken was a struggle to keep her from hyperventilating; the way that something felt like it was clogging her throat made it a laborious task.

She needed to breathe.

Placing both hands on his chest, Miyuki applied just enough pressure for distance to be made between their faces. Her shuddered breath was embarrassingly audible as she lowered her head, hands still on his chest while his arms locked themselves firmly around her waist, leaving their bodies still pressed together.

"Oh god…" She stuttered haphazardly, blushing full blown. And it wasn't even a candid adorable pink shade on her cheeks.

It was a full transformation to a human tomato.

He couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"You look like a tomato."

For the first time since their kiss, she narrowed her eyes and glared up at him. His grin never faltered, smug and confident that she was too trapped within his embrace to attack him.

Miyuki smirked.

Her hands shot up faster than he could comprehend. Planting themselves on either side of his cheeks, she squished them violently, causing a much distorted face form and a puckered lip.

"Let go!" He bristled, twisting his head from side to side in unsuccessful attempts to shake her hands away. She laughed maniacally and applied even more force.

"Die!"

Hands slipping away from her waist, he grabbed both her wrists and manoeuvred her around so that her back was pressed on his front and her wrists were locked in his grip in front of her. She snapped her head sideways up, ready to retort something again before he swooped down just in time to reposition his lips on hers.

There was that blankness again…

This time, he didn't waste anymore time in waiting for her to let things sink in. His lips pressed more insistently on hers before lightening the pressure moments later. Heavier and light, heavier and light, the consistent movement had her head spinning in confusion. His eyes, loosely half-lidded, watched as the creases on her forehead lessen and her tightly closed eyes relaxed slowly and steadily.

It didn't take long for the reciprocation in her part.

Subconsciously, her head started pressing forward when he moved away, keeping the kiss more consistent.

More intoxicating.

There was nothing dark or seductive in the kiss. It was different, innocent. Loving, even. Abandoning all pretences, he leaned forward decisively, hands that gripped on her wrists slid down to intertwine their hands together.

Intimate. Gentle. Precious.

Heads angled, the distance became miniscule as their lips pressed more insistently. Her lack of doubt fuelled his boldness on. In a heat of the moment, his lips parted a little, and his tongue took a smooth swipe across her lips before pulling away with deliberate slowness.

At any other time, she would have jumped in absolute surprise. But somehow, the magic of the moment lingered, dancing surreptitiously around them and drowned her rational away, encasing the twosome in their little world.

Their heads still facing each other, inhaling each other's scent as he listened to her struggle to restore her steady breathing. His eyes were lazily peeked opened, watching her closed ones.

It took an eternity too slow. But when it did, her eyes fluttered open, as if finally deeming him worthy of seeing her. They stared at each other without uttering a single word, afraid that the enchantment would break.

He couldn't explain that inexplicable excitement in him that exploded and tingled in his system just standing there watching her.

No one had the privilege to kiss her yet, not even his brother.

Smiling softly, he bumped his forehead to hers gently and kissed the tip of her nose.

_His Yuki-chan._

It was the way she finally conceded defeat, her head falling between the crook of his neck while he closed his eyes, that he learnt his first experience as his own person, not as 'one of the twins'.

His first lesson in love: the ethereality of the first kiss.

And even if it wasn't love yet, it was probably the closest feeling to it.

He felt the curve of her lips on his neck and broke into a serene smile.

* * *

Somewhere between all our laughs, long talks, stupid little fights, and all our jokes...I think I fell in love.

* * *

The grin that adorned her face didn't falter until the end of the day, she felt like her lips were going to tear apart soon.

"Yuki…?" The voice that called was tentatively soft as she turned to face her mother.

"Yeah?"

She watched as the elder of the two sniffled and wrung her fingers continuously.

"I have to talk to you."

The smile vanished when her eyes caught the lights reflecting off the tears on her mother's face.

* * *

End.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

It would've been a longer chapter like I promised some of you guys.

Unfortunately, I encountered my first case of plagiarism halfway through the writing and my spirit just fled me. True, the plagiarizer's blog didn't seem to receive much readers, but the fact that it's out there, being read as someone else's work, is extremely unflattering and unfair.

All in all, **this is just a warning for any potential plagiarizers**. I'm not writing this for because I enjoy being a bitter and whiny author.

Plagiarism isn't just about ripping off someone else's hard work; this is about showing actual acknowledgment and respect to the author. I really don't want to make a big fuss. But if I have to, I'll unleash a message chuck full of rants you'll never forget because I'm temperamental like that.

And in case you guys are wondering? I'm still waiting for the plagiarizer to take down the story.

Now that we're done with that ugly matter, I'll just move on to something else now! =D

Thank you **PurpleSkye** for helping to beta-read in such a short time & listen to my annoying rants =D Hahah! You'll always be the first to hear my whines when I have them!! Be afraid!

I'm so full of fluff I can't believe it sometimes XD hahahah!! Chapter 11 is being started on right now!

This is my third time re-uploading this chapter -.- I had to delete all my files in the document manager to make this chapter come out...

* * *

**Anonymous Review Responses**

Thank you sunshine! Miyuki is actually one of the few characters I'm happy with =) Her stubborn front is what makes this story more fun to read! Tsk tsk, there's nowhere to run Miyuki! You'll have to give in to fangirl syndrome eventually! There's no use in trying to get away!! I actually freaked out when my friend chucked my chin once. Smacked him so hard he yelled =D i feel for you and Yuki too!


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